The Digimon King and The King of Gondor
by Graven661
Summary: The Digimon of the Fusion Fighters were transported to the world of Middle Earth by the Code Crown and save it form Sauron that is trying to rule the world. The Digimon were scattered all over in middle earth. The two Kings will face their greatest challenge with their friends and allies to save the world. If they were worthy for their thrones and for someone they care.
1. Ch 1 The World is Changing

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 1 The World is Changing**

**XXX **

**Hello everyone I am making the crossover story of the Lord of The Rings and Digimon. You know the author who wrote this did not finished the story. So I am writing the story with a few differences. I added a lot of characters and factions. So enjoy the story.**

XXX

"_The world is changing. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was... is lost. For none now live who remember it." _Said a female voice.

In Middle Earth was full of race of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Orcs, Goblins, and many more. Men were the race that were mortal. They were in nations of Kingdoms they control and some of the Men fight for evil. First were the Men of Gondor that control the White City called Minas Tirith. Next are the Men of Rohan that control the plains near Edoras. Next are the Men of Fiefdom of Southern Gondor. They control Dol Amroth a port city of Gondor and were neighbors and allies to aid Gondor. Then were the Men in the North called Dunedin Rangers and they were survivors of their fallen kingdom. They mostly patrol the borders between the Shire and Rivendell. Then were the Men of Dale. They control a very large city near the Lonely Mountain of Erebor.

Now comes the Evil Men. First were the Men of Rhun of the East. They were fierce warriors that hate the Men of Gondor of the West. Next were the Men of Harad. They were men of the desert and they tamed giant Elephants called Mumakils. Next are the Men of Umbar. They are pirates that control a fleet of black ships. Next are the Men of Khand next to Harad. They are another kingdom that hate Gondor and they have a King who lead them. Next are the Men of Dunland. They were wild and barbaric warriors who hate Rohan. And finally were the Men of Angmar that once served the Witch King of Angmar. They control a fortress called Carn Dum.

Elves were a race that are immortal and can live for a very long time. They have very pointy ears and very long hairs. They have cities in forest called Mirkwood, Lorien, Rivendell, and a Elven port city called the Grey Havens.

Next were the Dwarves. They are a race that had long beards, short, strong, and were very stubborn. They were great miners and craftsmen that live in mountains. They live in the Blue Mountains, Erebor, Iron Hills, and a few in the Grey Mountains.

And last were the Hobbits. They were known as little folk or halflings. They don't wear any shoes. They have hairy feet and have pointy ears. They are very short than Dwarves. They live in the Shire, Buckland, and some in Bree.

Orcs were fowl creatures created during the first age by the first Dark Lord. They are evil, cruel, and willing to kill all race of good. Goblins were creatures that live in the darkest caves and mountains. They don't like sunlight and they are cruel creatures that like to pillage the lands.

It shows there was a forge that is making are Rings of Power. _It was the time of the forging of the Great Rings.__Three Rings were given to the Elven Kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their stone halls, and Nine for mortal Men doomed to die. For within these Rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived for another Ring was made._ It shows a land is cover in darkness called Mordor. Also the land is barren, ash, and dust near the fires called Mount Doom. A very tall figure called Sauron. _The Dark Lord forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others. And into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life. One Ring to rule them all. One by one the Free Lands fell to the power of the Ring._

_But their were some who resisted. The Last Alliance of Men and Elves march against the armies of Mordor._ Next shows a army of Men and Elves march against the army of Orcs as they fought on the slopes of Mount Doom. They fought for the freedom of Middle Earth. They were lead by King Elendil, King Gil-galad, Isildur, and Lord Elrond. They clash with swords and fire their arrows into the Orc ranks.

_When victory is near. But the power of the Ring could not be undone. _They saw Sauron himself appear in the battlefield. He welded a mace with the Ring of Power in his hand. The Men and Elves stand their ground as they face the tall figure. Sauron sent powerful blows with his mace at the army that were sent flying into the air as he sent them back. Elendil and Gil-galad both charged at Sauron with their swords drawn. Sauron swings his mace and sent them flying into the rocks with a devastating blow that killed them.

Isildur saw and rush to his father side. He was filled with grief that his father was killed in battle. _It was in that moment that all hope had faded. That Isildur son of the King took up his father's sword. _Sauron stand near Isildur. Isildur try to reach his father's sword Sauron step on it as the sword broke. Isildur only hold the piece of the sword as a dagger. Sauron reach out with the Ring of Power in his right hand to Isildur. Isildur swing the dagger sword into Sauron's hand and the Ring came off. The Ring land on the ground. Isildur look up to Sauron as he exploded causing a shock wave knocking everyone off their feet. Then Sauron's helmet land on the ground and he was no more.

_Sauron the enemy of the Free People was defeated. The Ring pass on to Isildur who has this one chance to destroy evil forever. But the hearts of Men were easily corrupted_ _and__ the Ring of Power has a will of its own. _Isildur and his army are returning to Gondor. They were ambushed by Orcs. Isildur put the Ring in his finger in the middle of the battle. He tried to escape the battle and he fell in the river. The Ring slips out of his finger as it flows away in the river. Isildur try to reach it but was shot down by Orcs as he died.

The Ring was lost for two thousands of years and was found by Gollum. A strange creature that held the Ring for 500 years and it poisoned his mind. The Ring slips out of Gollum's hands and it was found by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins of the Shire.

After 60 years Evil is rising in Mordor. Sauron's Orcs have multiply and his fortress Barad-Dur has been rebuilt in the land of Mordor. Sauron is gathering his army of Orcs, Uruk-hai, Trolls, Goblins, Spiders, Evil Men, the Nine Nazguls and more other fowl creatures.

Gandalf was having some suspicions about the Ring Bilbo Baggins had. He went to search for his answer for the Ring. Gollum had know the location of were the Ring was at and who had it. But he was captured by Sauron's Orcs as they torture him. Gollum give in two words. "Shire, Baggins!" Sauron sent his most dangerous servants the Nine Nazguls to find the Ring and kill the one who carries it.

Gandalf made it back to the Shire and explains Frodo the Ring he had is Isildur's Bane. The One Ring that belong to the Dark Lord Sauron and he warn him that the enemy knows the location were the Ring was. So Gandalf tells Frodo to leave the Shire and he told him to meet him at the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. Frodo was joined by three Hobbits name Sam, Merry, and Pippin.

Gandalf the Grey went to seek help in Isengard ruled by a White Wizard Saruman. Gandalf told Saruman that the Ring of Power was found in the Shire. Saruman told Gandalf that Sauron is gathering armies. He cannot take physical form without the Ring of Power. He said that Sauron appears as a large eye breath in flame at the top of the tower. He was called the Eye of Sauron and very soon he will have a army great enough to launch assault all over Middle Earth. Saruman showed him how he knows with the power of the Palantir that is the seen stone that gives the user to see the present and future. Gandalf told Saruman it is a dangerous tool to use and they do not know who else is watching. Gandalf tried to leave Saruman closed all the doors and asked him to join with Sauron because there is no hope to stop him and his army. Gandalf refused to join him and they fought each other. Gandalf was overpowered and has been sent flying all the way up in the top of the Tower of Orthanc. Gandalf was prisoner of Isengard. Saruman gave him a choice to join him or die. Gandalf told him their is only one Lord of the Rings. Only one and he does not share power. Gandalf jump off the tower and he land on the back of a Giant Eagle name Gwaihir Lord of the Eagles of the Misty Mountains to escape Isengard.

The Hobbits arrived in the village called Bree they went to the Prancing Pony Inn to meet Gandalf. Fortunately, Gandalf was not there at the Inn and the Hobbits had waited in the Prancing Pony. But someone was watching them in the corner was a Dunedain Ranger name Strider. But his real name is Aragorn and he was the heir of Isildur the High King of Gondor and he would one day be the King of Gondor. Aragorn led the Hobbits to Rivendell when the Nazguls attack Bree. But they stop by the great watch tower called Amon Sul in Elvish or Weathertop in Men, that night they were attacked by five of the Nine. Aragorn fought them off, but one of the Nine stab Frodo with a Morgul Blade. It did not kill him, but a piece of the shard is inside Frodo reaching for his heart and Aragorn knows that Frodo will become a wraith like the Nine. The only thing that can save him is the elves with there skill of healing so they hurried to Rivendell.

When they stop in Trollshaws they saw Arwen came, she is the daughter of Lord Elrond and was Aragorn's love. Arwen took Frodo on her horse name Asfaloth and rode hard for Rivendell. It was not long that all Nine Nazguls came and chase them all the way to Rivendell. Arwen cross the Bruinen River and she turned to face them with her sword drawn. The Nine tried to cross the river bank, but they turn and saw the water change into Water Horses. They cause a wave that sent the Nazguls wash up in the river, but cannot be killed.

Elrond save Frodo with his skill of healing from his poison, but cannot remove the shard in his body. As Frodo recovers Gandalf spoke with Elrond of what to do next. That they know Sauron is rising in the east and Saruman betrays them. Saruman is breeding a army that can move in daylight. Elrond knew that the elves don't have the strength to fight Mordor and Isengard. Soon the elves will leave Middle Earth to the west of the sea.

In Rivendell Elrond gather all race of Middle Earth to plan what to do with the Ring. All the races were arguing among themselves. Frodo then volunteer to be the Ring Bearer. Gandalf will help him to guide along with Aragorn the King of Men, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Boromir the Captain of Gondor, and the three Hobbits Sam, Merry, and Pippin. They formed a group called The Fellowship of The Ring. They left Rivendell on their journey to Mordor.

They were camping out near piles of rocks as they were heading south. But they saw a large flock of Crebain from Dunland were black crows and were spies of Saruman. They went to the Pass of Caradhras the snowy mountains. But Saruman summoned a lighting to force them to take a different path. So they went to the Mines of Moria.

They went to the Mines of Moria to pass through the mountains, they came to the doors of Durin as they try to enter the doors. Frodo figure out it was a riddle to open the doors. He told Gandalf was a elvish word for friend. Gandalf said in elvish and the doors have open as they all enter the mines. They all look around and they saw dead bodies of Dwarves and Goblins. They released this is a tomb. They try to get out but were attacked by a Watcher in the Water that was a Kraken like creature. They were forced to go into the mines The watcher destroyed the doors sealing them inside.

They must face the long dark halls of Moria. As they pass they came across a large hall full of stone pillars at every hall. When they are about to move on. Gimli saw something in the tomb and he ran inside. What he saw inside was a stone coffin that read. _Here lies Balin son of Fundin, the Lord of Moria._ Gimli was crying that his cousin was dead along with his kinfolk. The Fellowship followed Gimli into the tomb and they saw bodies of dead dwarves. Gandalf found a book held by a corpse. Gandalf open the book as he read it. _They have taken the bridge... and the second hall. We have barred the gates... but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums... drums... in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out... They are coming! _Pippin saw a corpse sitting on a well impaled by arrows. When Pippin touch a arrow the head fell in the well and so did the rest of the body with a chain and bucket. It made lot of noise as it landed all the way down. As they waited nothing happens.

Until they heard a drum beat in the depth in the darkness. They heard the Goblins are coming and they barricaded the doors. They all prepared themselves to fight. The Goblins break through the doors as they all rushed into the room. The Fellowship fought them off, but the Goblins brought in a Cave Troll. The Fellowship managed to kill all the Goblins and kill the Troll.

They saw more Goblins are coming so the Fellowship ran out of Balin's Tomb as they were being chased by thousands of Goblins coming from all directions and even from above. They were all surrounded when they were about to fight they heard a roar in the dark hall as they turn and saw a red glow at the far hall. The Goblins knows what's coming so they all flee and hide in the shadows. Gandalf knows what is coming it was a Balrog a ancient demon of the first age.

The Fellowship flee from the Balrog as they came to the Bridge of Khazad-dum. When all members of the Fellowship pass through the bridge only Gandalf was the last person and he turned to face the Balrog. He knew if the Balrog escaped Moria it will bring devastation all over Middle Earth. He fought the Balrog on the bridge. The Balrog drawn his fire sword, Gandalf block it with his barrier. The Balrog used his fire whip and Gandalf slammed his staff on the bridge. When the Balrog took another step the bridge collapsed as it fell into the chasm bellow. But its fire whip grabs on to Gandalf's leg as he drops his staff and sword. Gandalf let go as he fell into the chasm below with his sword to fight the Balrog. As they keep falling they were in a cavern.

Later they were fighting at the top of Durin's Tower above the mountain. Gandalf swing his sword at the Balrog a lighting struck into Gandalf's sword. Gandalf rush and stab the Balrog's chest. The Balrog fell and was killed, but Gandalf lost his life too when he was about to reach to the Valar. He was given another chance to help save Middle Earth.

Meanwhile the eight members of the Fellowship escape Moria and they have arrived in Lorien a elven city of the woods. There they meet Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn the two eleven mates and rulers of Lorien. Galadriel spoke to each member of their roles and she told Boromir that his home will soon fall. Even now there is hope. There's a chance to save his country. After they rest for the night the next morning they were given elven gifts that will help them in their journey. So they give them three small elven boats for them to cross the River Anduin.

Back in Lorien the golden wood, Galadriel was walking to the mirror. She sensed something that is changing and something new. She used a vase full of water and pour it into the mirror. She looks into the mirror something happens. She saw the future change and saw a glimmer of hope that would change the world. What she saw was one image was a red lizard like with a V shape head with a yellow scarf, a zigzag mouth and holding some kind of staff as a weapon.

A white robe figure came to check on Galadriel. Galadriel smiled and she turn to the cloak figure. The cloak figure ask her. "What do you see my Lady?" He asked. She look into his eyes and she answer him. "Hope."

**XXX**

**Next time will be in the Digital World about the Fusion Fighters. Chapter 2 The Digital World.**


	2. Ch 2 The Digital World

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 2 The Digital World**

**XXX**

**This story will have new Digimon characters that joined the Fusion Fighters United Army. I added up to seven Digimon. So enjoy the next story.**

XXX

In the World is full of data that brought life of creatures that are made of data called Digimon. They appear in shape and size. They can even digivolve to grow stronger and powerful. Their are some Digimon that are good or evil. Their is a gateway to the Human World that separated between them.

The Digital World has many zones when the world merge whole. It was separate when a evil Digimon name Bagramon a Demon Lord Digimon is trying to destroy the Digital World and the Digimon that have no place in the world he wants to get rid of. He was a leader of the Bagra Army that want to conquer the world. Bagramon had started to recruiting many Digimon for his army and place three Head Officers in charge of his forces as they invaded the Digital World to try take it by force.

Most Digimon think the Bagra Army was not a threat and so it did when they invade their zones. But then were the powerful group called the Legendary Warriors who fought for justice and peace to protect the inhabitants of the Digital World. Led by Omnimon, they have fought back against the Bagra Army as they push them back, they were close to winning.

But then, Bagramon learned another world was called the Human World. It was at the gate between worlds. The Legendary Warriors were in the passion of the most powerful object called the Code Crown. That is the core of the Digital World. It can control and change all the zones for anyone to reshape the world. But unfortunately The Code Crown was split into 108 pieces and scattered all over the zones. The Legendary Warriors were turned into Digi Cards that were scattered all over the zones and one was in the Human World.

With no one to stop the Bagra Army many zones begin to fall one by one. Until fate came to Shoutmon's home called the Green Zone. They had heard the Bagra army is controlling the other zones and now they come for theirs next. Shoutmon was determined to be the world's Digimon King and to protect the weak and fight against evil.

Shoutmon was badly injured in battle and was sent to the Human World to meet Mikey Kudo, Angie Hinomoto, and Jeremy Tsurgi. Mikey was given a Fusion Loader to save Shoutmon from being deleted. They were transported to the Digital World to help Shoutmon to be the Digimon King and they formed their army called the Fusion Fighters. Mikey was named the Red General. They traveled to many zones to collect the Code Crowns to free the Digital World.

There is two armies one was lead by team Blue Flare General Christopher Aonuma. Then there was team Midnight lead by AxeKnightmon. There was a girl named Nene Amano who was part of team Midnight defected to the Fusion Fighters with her Digimon allies. Next Bagramon sent his three officers name Tactimon, Laylamon, and Blastmon to collect the Code Crowns.

Mikey, Shoutmon, and the Fusion Fighters went to free zones and they entered a middle of a battle with Christopher battling for the Code Crown to control the world. However the Code Crown was taken by Lord Bagra who stole it and he changed the world into darkness. He will soon open the door to the Human World to conquer as will.

Mikey, Angie, Tsurgi, and Shoutmon were sent to the Human World along with Tactimon. When Tactimon attack Shoutmon Digivolve into OmniShoutmon. OmniShoutmon defeated Tactimon and they found Omnimon DigiCard. Omnimon sent Mikey and Shoutmon back to the Digital World to save it.

When they got their time in the Digital World is fast than the Human World. The world was split into seven kingdoms controlled by seven Dark Generals named Dorbickmon, NeoMyotismon, Zamielmon, Splashmon, Olegmon, Gravimon, and Apollomon.

They were gone for several months in the Human World and the two were they unite with Christopher, Nene and the rest of the Fusion Fighters. They became the Fusion Fighters United Army. They face all seven of the Dark Generals, but they lost two Digimon named Deckerdramon in the battle against Gravimon and Beelzemon battling against Laylamon his enemy that destroyed his home in the Desert Zone. They were killed in battle. But two of the seven Dark Generals were not evil were Olegmon and Apollomon. They encountered a young boy named Ewan Amano, Nene's little brother. He was tricked by AxeKnightmon that this was a game to the Digital World. They convinced Ewan that the Digimon are living beings. After they defeated the seven generals, they now face AxeKnightmon.

AxeKnightmon revealed his plan called D5 and he revives all seven Dark Generals and fused them together as GrandGeneramon. They have defeated GrandGeneramon. They now meet Bagramon in his dark castle along with AxeKnightmon. AxeKnightmon did try to fuse with his brother so he can be the new Dark Lord. But he was absorbed by his brother Bagramon and he became DarknessBagramon. Meanwhile Mikey went into the castle to rescue Ewan. When they were facing Bagramon. Shoutmon told Bagramon that a true King must protect the people and defend from evil like him. He even said that Bagramon was not a true king. Shoutmon charged at Bagramon only to be killed from him.

Mikey was upset that Shoutmon lost his life and he learned that the Code Crown can revive all the fallen Digimon along with Shoutmon. Bagramon went to the Human World as he conquer and destroy the world. The Fusion Fighters United Army followed Bagramon along with his army. they fought his troops and Mikey used this as a distraction to draw their attention as they went in Bagramon's body to get the Code Crown. Bagramon knows and he stop Mikey from getting the Code Crown. But fate change that the Code Crown chose Mikey and it revives Shoutmon and the other fallen Digimon like Beelzemon, Deckerdramon, Lopmons, Grademon, Olegmon, Apollomon, and many more. They free the Legendary Warriors from their DigiCards. They did change the future and fought for their worlds. Shoutmon Digifuse with all the Digimon to become Shoutmon X7F Superior Mode. Shoutmon defeated the evil Digimon Lord Bagramon and saved the two worlds. Then Shoutmon and all of his allies were sent back to the Digital World. They fought to bring peace and hope for the world they all live in and they still have a few evil Digimon that want to cause destruction. Their human generals stayed in the human world as Bagramon is no more.

Shoutmon was crowned as King of the Digital World and was leader of the Fusion Fighters United Army. He also posses the Code Crown to keep the World in balance. That he will defend and protect the weak Digimon from evil. Shoutmon and his allies have build a castle for him along with the army for saving the world. The Fusion Fighters United Army have a motto that they will never turn their backs from those in need of help.

It was seven years since Bagramon was defeated. The Fusion Fighters United Army have spread throughout the world helping Digimon that were in danger of evil Digimon that what to hurt the innocent Digimon. They have help of many other Digimon like Olegmon, Apollomon, Grademon, and the Legendary Warriors that also spread their light to help and protect the world. They recently recruited six Digimon in their army to help other Digimon that were in need of help. They are Agumon, Biyomon, Gatomon, Wizardmon, Lopmon, and Taomon. Agumon and Biyomon were friends that want to help and protect those in need of help. Gatomon and Wizardmon are two companies that were traveling the world and they heard that Bagra Army is trying to take over the world. They later heard that Shoutmon defeated Bagramon and they want to joined the Fusion Fighters United Army. Next was Lopmon, Lopmon was one that helped the Fusion Fighters against NeoMyotismon and he later joined them. And finally was Taomon, she is a holy Digimon that she wants to bring light to the world and she joins the Fusion Fighters United Army to fight evil. She was also a great strategist that come up with plans.

Next they have a Digimon that looks after the castle name Sorcermon he is a White Wizard Digimon who looks after the throne of King Shoutmon and as the adviser.

Even the world is at peace there are few remnants of Bagra Army that yet remain.

XXX

It happened in the Green Zone were Shoutmon's home is at, a Digimon was running to warn the village. He was a Mikemon and he was yelling to warn the villagers.

"Everyone were under attack! It's the last remnants of the Bagra Army!" His shouts cause all the villagers to panic and flee out of their homes as they saw the last evil army that are coming.

They were lead by Piedmon the clown Digimon along with a vampire name Myotismon and a werewolf name Shadow WereGarurumon. They have troop's that are Troopmon, Mammothmon, Minotarumon, Pteramon, Sealsdramon, Apemon, Devimon, and Ice Devimon.

"Destroy this village my troops!" Ordered by the evil Digimon Clown that was the leader.

The Bagra Army invaded the Green Zone so they can rise again after their fallen Master was destroyed. Piedmon was one of the last general of the Bagra Army with his two Commanders. They wish is to destroy all the Digimon and Villages to conquer the world.

The Bagra Army sent Pteramon to the sky to use Raining Bomb to sent barrage of explosions to destroy buildings. They sent Shadow Garurumon, Troopmon, Mammothmon, Sealsdramon, And Minotarumon to attack on the ground to trap the villagers. They used Freezing Breath, Splendid Attack, Earthquake Drill, and Fox Fire to attack the villagers. The village is full of Mikemon, Sunflowermon, Tanemon, Palmon, Floramon, Bearmon, Lalamon, Salamon, Budmon, and Kunemon that were lead by a hybrid Digimon name Kazemon. She was leading the villagers to safety but were cut off by Piedmon and his remaining troops block their escape.

"You got no where to run, I am giving you two options either you stand and fight to the death or surrender and become our slaves." Piedmon was smiling by giving them a choice.

The villagers were all afraid and were at a lost, most of them don't know how to fight. Kazemon was not willing to surrender and she give him his answer. "I will not let you harm the villagers. I will face you in battle, I refused to turn my back to my fellow villagers." She was very determined to fight.

"You sound just like the Fusion Fighters that usually say that, but now is time for you to be deleted!" Piedmon said as he change her with his four swords drawn. "**Trump Sword!**"He yelled at his attack as he slash his swords at her.

She quickly fly up to doge his swords. "**Hurricane Wave!**"She shouted as she summoned two twisters out of her hands. She sent her attack right at Piedmon.

Piedmon jump into the air to dodge the twisters coming at him. He was now in front of Kazemon. "Your finished." He said with a smirk as he used his hands. "**Ending Snipe**!"He touch Kazemon as she was electrocuted by his attack.

"Ahhhhhh!" Kazemon was screaming in pain. She drop down to the ground hard. She was trying to get up, but she was stepped on the ground by Piedmon and he stabbed her with his swords on her stomach. She scream in agony as she can't take the pain no more. Her wounds are spilling out data.

"It's a shame to hurt such a beautiful butterfly and now I am going to kill you for trying to face me."

Piedmon was about to use his swords to strike her down until someone hit him at the side. He was caught off guard and he heard a voice. "It's not nice to hurt a lady even when she is down."

He look and saw a very tall woman with a big sword and a snake arm. It was Mervamon the Warrior Digimon. Kazemon knows who it is and she was being healed by a small pink bunny.

"Don't worry I will heal you up." He said as he put his hands on her wounds. "**Immediate Healing!**" His hands glow green as he heals Kazemon. It was Cutemon the Healer Digimon. "There your all healed up."

Kazemon was fully recovered and she ask them. "Wait if your here that means."

When she ask they all turn and saw all the members of the Fusion Fighters United Army that came. They were led by Shoutmon himself along with some of the best fighters. "Fusion Fighters attack!" Shoutmon yelled as they all charged at the last remnants of the Bagra Army. The Bagra Army was in the state of confusion and disoriented as they try to fight them.

"It's time to take out the trash.** Seismic Speaker!**" Ballistamon said as he blow way some Troopmon and a Apemon. "**Drill Buster!**" Dorulumon shoot small drills at the Mammothmon as they were destroyed. Lillymon used Flower Cannon to blast at a the Ice Devimon. "You guys really pick a wrong place to miss with! **Oblivion Cannon!**" Beelzemon said as he blasted at the Minotarumon as they were vaporized. Knightmon and Ten Pawnchessmons where information to block the enemies attacks by attacking the villagers. Deputymon used Justice Bullet to blast at two Devimons and were obliterated. Greymon used Mega Flame to burn some Mammothmons. In the air MailBirdramon attack some Pteramon with Plasma Cannon. "You guys are in for it now! "**Random Laser!**" Sparrowmon said as she shoot at Pteramons with her speed. Deckerdramon used Deckerdra-Launcher to fire missiles at the enemies that are running. Cyberdramon strike his enemies with Death Divider attack to cut down Pteramon and Apemon. Golemon used Sulfur Plume to burn Minotarumon. Chibitortomon used Armored Arrow to pierce at Pteramon's armor.

Starmon and Pickmons attack with Meteor Shower with a barrage at enemies from the sky. Gaossmons charged by using Head Strike to ram their enemies. Two Bombmons used Bomberhead to blow up Sealsdramons. Six Monitamons used Fire Shot, Water Dragon, and Wind Wheel to blast at Troopmons. Agumon and Biyomon both used Pepper Breath and Spiral Twister attacks at Devimons. Gatomon and Wizardmon both used. Lightning Paw and Thunder Ball at Ice Devimons. Lopmon used Blazing Ice at Apemon. Taomon used Thousands Spells at Devimons. All enemy troops were hit and all been deleted. Only three enemies are left.

Piedmon saw all of his troops were wiped out and only he and his two officers were left standing. Shoutmon came out of the crowd with his microphone staff and face Piedmon alone.

"So the King of the Digimon finally reveals himself." Piedmon was grunting that he knows that he lost this battle and was surrounded.

"So you know about me do you Piedmon. So guess what, the Bagra Army are no more and you are the only one last standing. Peace will come if I defeat you now and you will remember to carved into your heart because I am the King of the Digimon!" Shoutmon said in determined to put a end to the evil Digimon.

"We shall see King Shoutmon!" Piedmon said as he change at him with his swords and Shoutmon block it with his microphone.

Myotismon was about to attack Shoutmon from behind, but was stop by Beelzemon. "I cannot allow you to interfere King Shoutmon's duel. Now you face me!" Beelzemon challenged Myotismon.

"Very will I will destroy you first!** Grisly Wing!**" He shout as he summoned a swarm of bats from his cape. Beelzemon fly up to doge the attack.

Next was Shadow WereGarurumon was trying to escape but was cut off by Agumon and Biyomon. "We will not allow you to pass!" Agumon said.

"We cannot allow no one to escape and rebuild their army again!" Biyomon said.

Shadow WereGarurumon was growing at them "You two think you can stop me! What foolishness! So be it then here I come! **Shadow Claw!**" Shadow WereGarurumon charged with his claws to strike at them. They doge him as they counter him.

"Your done Shadow WereGarurumon! **Sharp Claws!" **Agumon strike him with his claws. The werewolf was hit at the chest and he was badly damaged. Biyomon came for the final blow.

"It's over! **Phantom Fire!" **She fired a blue fire ball at Shadow WereGarurumon as he was engulf in flames and he was deleted.

Next was Beelzemon still battling Myotismon. "Quit moving around so much! **Crimson Lightning!" **Myotismon yelled as he used his whip to hit Beelzemon. Beelzemon doge right as Myotismon miss him.

"It's time for me to finish you off! **Darkness Claw!" **Beelzemon strike him down with his claw and he delete Myotismon. Myotismon was no more.

The only one left is Piedmon as he continues on fighting Shoutmon. "Your word to protect others is for the foolish and for the weak!" Piedmon said to make Shoutmon mad.

"No! We defend the Digital World for everyone that lives in it! **Soul Crusher!**" Shoutmon said as he hit him with his microphone at his face. Piedmon doubled back as he was dazed.

"Your Done! **Fiery Fastball!" **Shoutmon throws a fireball at his hand at Piedmon. Piedmon was engulf in flames as he was burned to cinders and has been deleted.

The Battle was over they have finished off all of the Bagra Army and were wiped out. Kazemon was very grateful that the Fusion Fighters United Army have came to saved them.

"Thank you your majesty for saving our village." Kazemon thank the king.

"It was nothing. Now the last forces of the Bagra Army is gone the world can now have peace." Shoutmon declared as he turn to his army. "Fusion Fighters were heading home!" He said as they all left to Shoutmon's Castle to celebrate their victory.

XXX

**Next time in Chapter 3 Shoutmon's Doubts**


	3. Ch 3 Shoutmon's Doubts

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 3 Shoutmon's Doubts **

XXX

It was late at sundown that the Fusion Fighters United Army return back to Shoutmon's castle.

It was a very big castle. It has many rooms, towers for some lookouts to see anyone approach the castle. It has a large throne room with a throne at the end of the hall. Their was a garden at the back of the castle full of flowers. It has a kitchen that has a supplies of food they storage and cook cake by Coronamon who is the best cook. Their is even a Library room full of books were Wisemon is at reading books.

Shoutmon and his army enter the castle and those that were waiting for them were Jijimon, Ignitemon, Stingmon, Lilamon, Beastmon, (Who was sleeping as usual.) Dondokomon, Dracomon, Spadamon, Sorcermon, Cutemon's Parents, and Lunamon.

They were happy to see their King return. "My King you have return." Sorcermon said. Sorcermon is the adviser for the throne and the castle.

"I'm glad your here my boy Shoutmon." Jijimon said to Shoutmon, when he looks after him all these years.

"Your majesty I am happy you came." Lunamon was happy to see him. "Good to see you, I see everyone is looking after the castle." He said to them as he turn to everyone.

"It's time for us to celebrate our victory against the last of the Bagra Army and we will now have peace!" Shoutmon declare as they they all celebrated and they throw out a party.

It was at night as they are getting ready for the party. Coronamon was baking a big cake with the help of Spadamon, Ignitemon, and Chibitortomon. While everyone enjoy themselves as they were talking, dancing, relaxing, and Cyberdramon was on watch guard at the castle. He was much of a silent sentinel guard that never speak very well. They also bring out Wisemon out of his studies to join them. Coronamon brought out food for everyone to eat. As everyone all take their seat as they all enjoyed eating.

Everyone but Shoutmon. He was looking down at his plate and was wondering about the time if he was questioning himself. He got up and left the room. But someone did notice Shoutmon left. It was Lunamon. She saw him left the room and she followed him.

XXX

Shoutmon was outside and was sitting at the balcony and was looking up at the night sky. "Now the Digital World is at peace, is it the right path for me to be King after seven years?" Shoutmon asked himself. He heard someone called him from behind.

"Shoutmon are you here?"

Shoutmon turn and he saw Lunamon. She was staring at him. Shoutmon jump off the balcony and was a little surprised. "Lunamon what are you doing here?" Shoutmon asks her.

"I noticed that you left the dining room so I went to check on you." Lunamon was very worried.

Shoutmon was not sure if he can tell her or not. Because when he first met her in the Disc Zone and he give her a Digibites for her as a gift. He took a long breath and look at the castle's banner of the Fusion Fighters. He turn to Lunamon and he wonder if she could help him.

"Well Lunamon it goes like this. I can't be sure if I am fit to be the King." He said to her.

Lunamon was shock to hear him say that. "My King... Shoutmon! Why your the best king anyone can ask for, but why would you say that!" Lunamon was asking him way.

"It's because I did not lead everyone to victory or to come up with the plans. It was our General Mikey who lead us to victory. It was he who helped us win the war and I am someone who charged in without thinking a plan. I think Mikey should be a better King than I." Shoutmon explains to Lunamon.

Lunamon stops him. "But you help us to change our future Shoutmon. You help defeat the Bagra Army and Bagramon. But you can't step down the throne and quit, because you work so hard to save our world!" Lunamon firmly told him to not give up the throne.

"But why should I be the King? It's because I am small and have a big heart. But I can't Digifuse or Digivolve, I don't feel like a leader to lead." Shoutmon was upset and begins to doubt himself as he clutched his hand on the balcony.

"No!" Lunamon shouted at Shoutmon as she grabs Shoutmon's hand. Shoutmon was shock to hear Lunamon to yell at him like that. "I don't believe that you should give up your throne and you should know everyone in the Fusion Fighters United Army stands with you! What happen to the Shoutmon that I know, it isn't you at all!" Lunamon tried to help him see reason.

Shoutmon let Lunamon's hands go."But Lunamon I should have been a true King like to lead, to build up defenses, to make plans and to counter a attack." Shoutmon try to explain to her.

But Lunamon stops him. "You are a good leader, and a true friend to everyone here. You did help to build a castle for everyone to stay together. I want to help you just like you help me when I was down!" Lunamon stared at Shoutmon at his eyes.

"Let me tell you why. You did formed the Fusion Fighters that we gathered many Digimon to our cause and you fuse with them. So why are doubting yourself if your not being a good leader?" Lunamon ask.

"But Lunamon..." Shoutmon was about to say something, but Lunamon hugs him.

"Shoutmon everyone and I all have faith in you and I want you to not doubt yourself. So please do it for everyone and do it for me." Lunamon assured him. But it did not seem to help Shoutmon at all.

Shoutmon thought about this and told her. "I thank you for helping me Lunamon. I know you are trying to help me. I need to prove myself that I can lead without Mikey's help, I'm going out for a walk to think about this. Can you do me a favor to not tell anyone. I don't want anyone to worry about me when there's nothing to worry about." As Shoutmon said to her. Lunamon sign and let him go.

"Alright." she murmured "Just try and be your old self Shoutmon for everyone we all know and love." She said.

"I will try." He said as he left the balcony to go into the castle.

Lunamon watch him left she tried to helped Shoutmon, but it only upset him more. Lunamon begins to put her hands on her heart and she was filled of sorrow as she shed tears. Shoutmon was not being himself like he used to be. Even he is the Digimon King he had not taken a mate. Because their was no Digimon Queen. If their is such a Queen... She wonder if she were leader material too.

"Oh Shoutmon..." "It's not like you at all." "Why would you doubt yourself? You were always so confident, So strong with a mind, heart, and body. Your soul blazing in everyone hearts to bring light to our world..."

Lunamon paused for a moment and look down at the castle balcony, to see her reflection under the moonlight's lake. she stared at her reflection. "Especially me." Lunamon was upset.

"I remember that day you help me and my people when our zone was destroyed. You rescue me from Olegmon's mind control. When we Digi Fused to Shoutmon X7F Superior Mode, I can feel your fiery heart that burns my chest, Full of determination, passion, and courage...that's the Digimon you should be... That's the Digimon I fell in love."

Lunamon remember the time when her zone was attack by the Bagra Army and Team Blue Flare were fighting one another for the Code Crown. She met the Fusion Fighters that helped her and her people to escape the clasping zone. They went to the Warrior Zone to stay at. Shoutmon give Lunamon a gift it was a Digibites canister. She was happy about the gift she was given and she began to have a crush on him.

But it was destroyed by Blastmon's attack and Lunamon did cried. It only made Shoutmon mad and he defeated Blastmon. Shoutmon has a good heart and willing to protect others for his noble deeds. She want to tell Shoutmon, but she was too nervous to tell him. She made sure no one heard her as Lunamon left the balcony and went back to the Great Hall.

XXX

When she enter the room. She looks and saw Beelzemon with Mervamon next to him. Beelzemon was hugging Mervamon by his left arm and Mervamon was leaning next to him. The two of them were smiling and they saw the small bunny Digimon came in Beelzemon ask her. "Lunamon what can I do for you?" He ask her. "Yes... No... maybe..?" Lunamon was very nervous and she was having trouble with her answer.

Beelzemon knows Lunamon was never this nervous, but he calmed her down. "Lunamon is all right just breathe, now tell me what is wrong?" Beelzemon ask her. Lunamon took a deep breath. "Okay. It's Shoutmon." she gave him his answer.

"Shoutmon?" Beelzemon blinked at her. He look and saw that Shoutmon was not on his throne. Beelzemon was meant to be a silent observer and he turned back to Lunamon. "What's wrong? Where is he Lunamon?" Beelzemon ask Lunamon.

"I promise him that I will not tell anyone but... He said that he has doubts that he not sure if he was fit to be King." Lunamon was upset about it. "I told him that he was a good leader, but my words did not help. So I thought you would help him if you could talk to him instead, even your a warrior like him to convince him." Lunamon ask Beelzemon.

"I'll see what I can do, so where did he went." Beelzemon ask Lunamon. "I think he is heading to the hallway room." Lunamon told him. Beelzemon let go of Mervamon. "Mervamon I am going to find Shoutmon and I'm going to be back okay." Beelzemon said to his mate and he went to find Shoutmon.

As he left Lunamon and Mervamon talk. "So Mervamon how are you and Beelzemon doing together?" Lunamon ask her. "Very good and I can ask you why is Shoutmon not feeling himself?" Mervamon asks Lunamon. "Shoutmon was beginning to question himself if he is not better king to lead." Lunamon explains to Mervamon. "I can see why now, but don't worry Beelzemon knows what he is doing." Mervamon assured her.

Lunamon ask Mervamon a question. "So Mervamon are you and Beelzemon having a good time together?" Lunamon ask.

"Well we have a great time, but we were enjoying each other as mates and even if were both warriors." Mervamon told the bunny Digimon. "I can tell you are very devoted to Shoutmon and you seem to care for him." Mervamon ask her.

Lunamon was blushing by Mervamon's question. "I not sure what you mean, but I do care for Shoutmon." Lunamon told her.

"Let go and have a drink before Dondokomon and Starmon devour all the drinks." Mervamon told Lunamon as they see the two Digimon were drinking everything. The two of them chucked and they served themselves for their drinks as they toasts they drink their cups. They put their cups down as they still talk each other.

Lunamon wonder if she had the courage to tell Shoutmon that she love him. But she was afraid if she would be the Digimon Queen. She was not much of a fighter and she was not strong. She believes Shoutmon should deserve a better mate than herself.

XXX

Shoutmon enter the corridors as he walk pass each hallway. He walk down the stairway down the castle. He enter a room with a door sealed by a Chrome Digizoid to keep anyone from getting in. It can be open only by King Shoutmon or his Fusion Fighters. As he shut down the barrier he open the door as he enter the room that hold the Code Crown. It was glowing a golden light and it was a very large diamond shape that the Fusion Fighters had work hard together to get. It has the power to change the world and grant wishes to anyone they desire.

After they defeated DarknessBagramon Shoutmon used the Code Crown to reformed and restore the Digital World. Shoutmon had brought it down here were no evil Digimon could find it and use it for control the world again. So the Code Crown was placed their ever since. Shoutmon was staring at the the Code Crown as he spoke out to it.

"You know." Shoutmon murmured to the Code Crown, he is not sure that it can understand him if it was a object. Shoutmon spoke to it. "I know you can't respond to me anyway... I just need your guidance right now." Shoutmon said as the object did not react. So he question it.

"I just have so many questions that need answering right now. Am I the right Digimon to be the King of this world? Would I be able to protect you from someone that is attacking the castle and use you for their evil purposes. You did choose Mikey to change our world and save it. And, at the end of the day... how does that reflect on me?" Shoutmon closed his eyes and put his hand on his head. "Can I really call myself a King? What am I... without Mikey?"

He said as he was startled by a voice behind him said. "You are Shoutmon. The rightful King of the Digital World." Shoutmon whirled at the door and saw the tall figure with black wing's.

"Beelzemon!" Shoutmon sighed as he saw him standing by the door. "And your people, will follow you to whatever end." Beelzemon firmly add.

"You do have a habit to spring out of nowhere." Shoutmon bristled. "Have you been following me?" Shoutmon ask him.

Only when you reached the bottom of the stairs and I need to speak with you about... your doubts." Beelzemon answered him.

"So you knew about it?" Shoutmon said.

"No not until a few moments ago." Beelzemon shook his head "Please don't blame Lunamon, she was very worried about you and she promised not to tell. I am here to talk about your doubts as the King." Beelzemon explains.

Shoutmon blinked and chuckled. "Trust Lunamon to find some help like that." He murmured.

"Well, I just got the idea of what you said about the Code Crown there." Beelzemon step into the room. "Why should you doubt your ability to be a King? Shoutmon, why do you think for not wanting the throne you work hard for?" Beelzemon ask.

"Will to be honest, at first it was my goal, but now I am not sure." Shoutmon replied. "As I said to Lunamon. I was using all my strength but I was not leading. Mikey came up with strategy while I don't. He always comes up with a plan as we pulled through. Can I really call myself a King without Mikey by my side."

"A King comes in many forms Shoutmon." Beelzemon stated. "I have seen many in my times in the Bagra Army. There are Kings that came come up with strategy, their are Kings that can lead the charge, their are Kings who cares for the people, and there are Kings who have only have good interest in their hearts. You are the only King that is fit to rule the Digital World, just like my arm cannon." Beelzemon smirk as he lifted his cannon up.

"Thank you for the support Beelzemon." Shoutmon admitted. "But without Mikey I would never have taken the throne."

"Perhaps." Beelzemon concluded. "But you did train with Ballistamon to help you to grow stronger and with my help back in the Warrior Zone. Mikey's had nothing to do with it at that time. You never said a word to Mikey. And for the record your training payed off to make you stronger. We face Blastmon that came to the Warrior Zone and after we have defeated Blastmon. You said to him that day that I remember you say." Beelzemon explains to Shoutmon about that time and he repeats Shoutmon said to Blastmon.

"I want to get stronger. I won't lose to the Bagra Army or Team Blue Flare. I won't let a single tear drop. The world that Mikey wishes for... I want to see it. I promise you all. I'll be the Digimon King. I will not have anyone to cry! I will be the Strongest King!" "Those were your exact words, Shoutmon. What happened to the Digimon with all that determination?" Beelzemon asked him.

"He becomes the King." Shoutmon nodded. "But he realized that in reality he just lost that path because it's a big job."

"It's seemed you lost your way on it." Beelzemon shook his head. "The Shoutmon from then would overcome those doubts to be a great leader, But not to brooding over about not being fit to rule as the King, He should suppress any obstacles and overcome it, You are a great warrior, Shoutmon and you will not lose your beliefs to ruled for seven years."

Shoutmon grimaced "But without Mikey..."

"Your not looking at the bigger picture here." Beelzemon interrupted. "It's true without Mikey we could not have won the war. But without you by Mikey's side he could not have prevailed either. You led us as much than he did, Shoutmon. If any of us were Mikey's partner instead of you, we would have failed even with Mikey's help."

Shoutmon's jaw dropped by Beelzemon's words.

"The two of you were a team that helped saved the Digital World." Beelzemon concluded. "You think you were nothing without Mikey, if that the case, then Mikey would also be nothing without you too.

Shoutmon blankly stares for a few seconds, but then he replied about it. "But that's just it! Mikey's not here now. Without him what am I...?"

And then the Code Crown suddenly exploded with light in the room.

XXX

**I added another character called Sorcermon who will be the steward and caretaker for Shoutmon's throne and castle.**

**Next time Chapter 4 The Code Crown's Choice**


	4. Ch 4 The Code Crown's Choice

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 4 The Code Crown's Choice **

**XXX**

The room was blinded by a bright light as Shoutmon shield his eyes with his arm and Beelzemon shield his eyes with his wings. The Code Crown was shining a very bright golden light. They were trying to figure out why is it reacting.

"What... What's going on with the Code Crown?" Shoutmon shouted, raising his voice so that it could be heard over the sound of the power that the Code Crown was currently giving off.

"I don't know," Beelzemon called back. "Has it ever done this before?"

"Not since we placed it in this room for it's protection." Shoutmon grunted as he tried to take a peak at the Code Crown. The light was so intense that it almost blinded him and he quickly block his eyes. The Code Crown was spinning very fast as it give off some intense power.

In fact, I never seen it act this brightly before." Shoutmon said as he stepped back a little bit. "Could it be malfunctioning?"

"It's the Code Crown." Beelzemon Object. "It is the source for the entire data structure of the Digital World... it would not malfunction without a very good reason."

"But it have malfunction before, didn't it?" Shoutmon point out, looking back at Beelzemon and he was still unable to see due to the intense light coming from behind him. "The Legendary Warriors said that it rapidly evolving technology of the Human World and the amounts of the Digital power they were creating cause a distance between the worlds to shrink and the energy from it turn into the Code Crown in the first place."

"Could it be happening again?" Beelzemon growl. "Could the Digital World be splitting apart into Zone's again?"

"I don't know." Shoutmon grunted. "But whatever it is." He summon his microphone into his hand. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"I'll go and get Wisemon." Beelzemon Suggested. "He might be able to give the information on the Code Crown's reaction."

"Good idea." Shoutmon nodded. "I think..."

He paused suddenly as the light of the Code Crown dies down and it allows Shoutmon and Beelzemon to lower their arms and wing. They look at the Code Crown again. Shoutmon's eyes widened as the mostly flat diamond shape took on a three-dimensional shape, becoming a much more valuable diamond and turning a rich purple color as more golden light gather around it's edge.

Shoutmon's mind flashed back during the fight against the Bagra Army, when they had conquer the Sword Zone. The Code Crown had done this back than too, and it had reformation of the Digital World to begin and also aloud to help the wounded Grademon to be reborn into his new form and good heart.

But way is it doing again. Shoutmon had not asked it to reformed the Digital World. And there was nobody using the Code Crown.

Beelzemon temporarily forgotten that he was suppose to be getting Wisemon, as both he and Shoutmon stood, The Code Crown's spinning speed began to slow down as softer waves of golden light as it peels off its edges and wash over the both of them. The two of them felt... a presence entering their heads. A presence that was not their own but they have both felt before, when the both of them had been reborn after being killed at the hands of the Bagra Army.

They knew that it was the way the Code Crown communicated. It did not speak, it did not have the capability for speech, or if it did it had never revealed it. But it seems to be able to communicate its message just fine without the need for it. At the present it was reassuring the both of them, letting them know that this was not a malfunction and they have nothing to worry about.

"What in the Digital World is going on?" Shoutmon murmured, as he stepping closer to the Code Crown as if has the answers for him.

The Code Crown did not respond for several moments, it was hovering in the air doing nothing. Shoutmon felt the presence in his brain again, Shoutmon was sure that the presence was focusing around on his head that contained his doubts about his own ability to be the Digimon King.

Was the Code Crown trying to give him a message? Like some sort of reassure of its own? Shoutmon could not be sure.

"Yes?" Shoutmon asked, trying to find some answer as to what the Code Crown was saying. "Yeah, I... I'm not... completely sure that I am the right one to be the King. I mean, what's with you choosing Mikey and... well, don't get me wrong, Lunamon and Beelzemon have given me a lot to think about but... still I...

Beelzemon was about to cut Shoutmon off and give him a few more encouragement, but the Code Crown beat him to it. Without warning, it suddenly flared into light again, brighter than before... its so bright that literally the one thing that Shoutmon or Beelzemon could see was whiteness as the light surge over them and... into them at the same time. And then the Code Crown, Shoutmon, and Beelzemon all vanished completely, disappearing into thin air as they had just completely fizzed out of existence.

XXX

Back into the Great Hall was full of activity away from the Code Crown's chamber and it's reaction down the Castle's Basement. The party was starting to die down. All the members of the Fusion Fighters United Army were all about to call it the night as some of them were feeling sleepy.

"Ugh... My old bones are beginning to feel stiff again." Jijimon murmured as he pick himself up with his staff. "I think is about time I'm going to call it the night."

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing." Mr. Cutemon nodded, he smiled as he turned to his son. "It's time we should be getting some sleep too my son."

"Aaw, do we have to?" Cutemon murmured. "I'm not that very tired, papa."

"That it may be, but your still a growing boy." His mother said with the smile. "Even your a hero of the Digital World, you still need your sleep."

Cutemon pouted "Dorulumon." Cutemon turn to his orange wolf guardian. "Isn't it okay for me to stay up longer?"

Dorulumon chuckled "Sorry Cutemon your parents have spoken. I would never dare to opposed your mother."

"Aaw." Cutemon murmured as he get up off the seat as his parents led him towards the edge of the table, while Jijimon climbed down off the chair as he was heading for the door.

"Who wants to go to bed as the party is going on." Dondokomon shouted as he was running pass a table. He was banging his head with his drumstick arms. "I can do this all night."

"Do you ever run out of energy?" asked Ballistamon.

"Nope, never that I remember." Dondokomon grinned as he spins around and beating of his own tunes.

"Can somebody tell me why we were hanging around with little squirts?" MailBirdramon murmured as he stared at Starmon, Chibitortomon, and Dondokomon that were all dancing around.

"It's because they were all part in the war along with us as we all faithfully served Shoutmon." Deckerdramon chuckled as his big eyes turned to MailBirdramon.

"Yes, I know that." MailBirdramon rolled his yellow eyes "I was being sarcastic."

"Aaw, come on MailBirdramon. Don't be such a killjoy." Sparrowmon giggled as she swooped low over his back and she held a packet of Digibites in front of his nose. "Here have some more bites."

MailBirdramon was trying his best to ignore Greymon that was sniggering. Sparrowmon began to reach into the Digibites box and pulled out handfuls and demand that he open wide.

Agumon was talking with Biyomon, Gatomon, Wizardmon, Lopmon and Taomon that were gathered at a table. "So everyone how was your time in the party." Agumon asked.

"Well it was a great party, but I wonder where is King Shoutmon?" Wizardmon asked.

"I was wondering the same thing." Taomon said.

"I know I help him to gain the power to defeat NeoMyotismon." Lopmon said.

"But the party's still going, we should enjoy it." Biyomon says.

"We should not worried too much to our King, we should just relax and have fun." Gatomon said as she told them.

"Your right Gatomon, I was trying to make sure that our king is safe." Wizardmon nodded to her.

"We should eat the cake before Starmon and Dondokomon eat it all." Agumon said as they hurried to take some cake.

Ignitemon was talking with Spadamon and Coronamon. "Coronamon you really are good at making cakes and food." Ignitemon smiled.

"It was nothing special about my talents in cooking." Coronamon was being modest.

"You don't have to be modest about it Coronamon." Spadamon said to his friend.

"I know Spadamon I just have great talent for cooking as Shoutmon's chief." Coronamon said to him as they were having a good time.

Stingmon and Lilamon were looking out at the window as they watch the moon. "It's a beautiful night my love." Lilamon said to her mate.

"Yes my dear it is." Stingmon said to her.

"What should we do in the next morning my dear." Stingmon asked.

"We should water the gardens to bloom the flowers my love." Lilamon said as they both hugged one other as they stared outside.

Lunamon had taken a seat with Mervamon. They were talking about Mervamon's relationship with Beelzemon and Mervamon didn't notices that Lunamon hint of sadness as she continued talking.

"...I do wish that Beelzemon showed more emotional at times." Mervamon was admitting. "I mean I love him for the person he is and all... but that person is often the quiet and brooding type who likes to keep his eye on things. Don't get me wrong, I love that part of him, it makes him seem like some sort the mysterious warrior brimming with power, which is quite interesting, because that's what he is. But still... do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, I hear you." Lunamon smiled as she nodded. "I'd say that it sounds like the two of you are great together."

"Oh, more than great." Mervamon smiled "We complement one another extraordinary well, if you ask me. I don't mind telling you one of my most greatest memories to date is the look on his face the first time I kissed him. It was the only time that I've ever seen his face go redder than his eyes.

Lunamon laugh. "Have you ever thought of... you know... having a kid?"

"Sometimes." Mervamon nodded "We've both never really given it a whole thought, to be honest."

"Why not?" Lunamon asked curiously.

Mervamon shrugged. "Called it the duty of being a warrior, but it just doesn't really come up in our minds that often. But I'm sure that one day we'll have one."

Lunamon smirked. "I wonder who come up with the idea."

Mervamon chuckled. "Me too Lunamon, me too."

When they were about to talk more Sorcermon approach them. "Have you two seen King Shoutmon?" He asked them.

"No we have not seen him come back yet." Mervamon said to the steward.

"What is it you want of him?" Lunamon asked him.

"I want to discuss with him about our next plans to help anyone that called for help." Sorcermon explained to them.

When they were about to tell him, they look at the middle table. They saw a glowing yellow light was appearing out of nowhere in the center of the room. Mervamon took up a battle stance and her big sword appeared out of thin air in her hand while the snake arm hissed for a fight. Sorcermon draw out his wand to prepare to launch his spells to attack.

All activity in the room immediately stop, even the smaller Digimon dancing around the table. Jijimon and Cutemon family stopped by the door they were about to walk out and they turn back to look, they gasping at the golden light which frittering above the middle of the table. Several Digimon readied themselves for using their attacks and ready for anything that dared disturb their party.

They were all very surprised when, with the flash of light, Shoutmon and Beelzemon suddenly appeared in the middle table although they had both been on one side of the purple Code Crown when they had been transported there, now they stood on either side of it, the large diamond-shaped was spinning freely between them.

"What the...?" Shoutmon blinked as he found himself standing at the middle of the banquet table with one foot in the remains of the cake. "Aw man." Shoutmon murmured lifting his foot and shaking it to send the bits of cake all over the place.

"Shoutmon." Dorulumon blinked "What's going on?"

"My King Shoutmon!?" Sorcermon was shock to see his King appear out of nowhere.

"I don't know?" Shoutmon cried. "I went down to check the Code Crown and suddenly it started misbehaving."

The Code Crown began to shine brighter once more, the purples edges blazing with light that spread across the entire room to illuminate every single person present. Several of the Digimon backed away. Cyberdramon stepped forward with his double bladed spear ready for anything in case something happened.

"What's it doing now?" Lillymon flinched as the glowing light and she shield her eyes.

"If I know the answer?" Shoutmon stepped back as well. All eyes on the room were fixed on the Code Crown as it began to spin faster, the light center of the diamond flashing slightly as it picked up speed and glowed like some lamp within a strange shape container.

"I think is going to explode." Chibitortomon fearfully said.

"It better not!" Greymon snarled. "If it does then we'll have to go about and find all the pieces again."

"I do not think that it will explode." Wisemon stepped up to the table for a closer look. "It looks to me as though it is... gathering some kind of power from deep inside. What power might be, I do not know."

"It's getting awfully fast now brother!" Starmon cried. "And it's making me dizzy."

"Why is it acting weird and building up for?" Sorcermon asked.

Right after the white Wizard Digimon spoke, a beam of light suddenly shot out of the Code Crown and connected with Shoutmon's chest and stared down at it, but it felt like that nothing was their at all.

"Can you explain this Wisemon?" He said.

"Hmm... I..." Wisemon was about to say something but he was cut off when another beam of light shot out of the Code Crown and connected with Beelzemon's chest. And another one hit Dracomon, who was closest besides them, and another went to Wisemon himself, and another to Starmon and all the Pickmons and one to Beastmon, who was very much awake, another hit Sorcermon and so on.

I less than thirty seconds or so as more beams shot out the Code Crown, every single person in the room was connected to the Code Crown by a strange beam of light. The only ones who weren't were both of Cutemon's parents, meaning that every single member of the Fusion Fighters United Army, including the irregulars members Spadamon, Ignitemon, Coronamon, Stingmon, and Lilamon. Even the new members of the Fusion Fighters United Army.

"Wisemon?" Shoutmon asked him for a answer.

"It appears to be manipulating whatever power it is using to connect to each one of us." Even Wisemon sounded a little nervous. "I still don't know what that power is through and without further data I cannot suggest what m..."

Suddenly the Code Crown burst with light, swiping the entire room inside and flashed like a powerful light. Nobody had the chance to see their eyes and everybody saw only white. Everyone connected to the Code Crown felt a sudden rushing feeling in their bodies and then the light cleared. And the Code Crown began to slow its spinning and returned to its golden color, near two dimensional shape as if nothing had happened.

Except something had happened.

Every single Digimon in the room who had been connected to the Code Crown had all vanished.

Gone and not a trace of them anywhere.

Which meant that the only two people left in the room were Cutemon's parents. Everyone else had just disappeared.

"What?" Mrs. Cutemon gasped her hands that her son had been here a few moments ago. She had her hands on his shoulders and now he was not there. He had vanished from beneath her hands the moment that the light had blinded her. "What... what's going on? Cutemon? Where are you? Cutemon! Answer me!"

Mr. Cutemon looked around the empty room shock and in astonishment. "But... but that's not possible. What in the Digital World happened? Where did everyone go?"

"Our son!" Mrs. Cutemon cried. "Our son has gone!" Where is he? Quickly we have to search the castle! He... He's got to be around here somewhere. He can't have been taken away from us like this... he just can't."

"Okay dear, let's calm down." Mr. Cutemon placed his hands on her shoulders. "Everyone has gone. We need to get together all of the other people in the castle and began a search party. We need to try and find them, any of them, and quickly. Let's hurry."

Mrs. Cutemon took a breath to calm herself and nodded, but before any of them could move, the door opened and Kazemon the Fairy Digimon walked in and she was baring a gift of flowers."Can I talk to King Shoutmon for all the help he done for..." She said as she look around discover the nearly empty room. "Huh? What the... Where did everybody go?" Kazemon asked.

"We don't know." Mrs. Cutemon whiled. "The Code Crown began acting up and then they just vanished!"

Kazemon blinked ""They... vanished?"

"Yes! Right in front of us!" Mrs. Cutemon nodded quickly.

"Are you sure?" Kazemon blinked again.

"Yes! My son... The King... all of them... gone!"

Kazemon took a moment to look around at the empty room and the spinning Code Crown as if to determine whether this was some kind of strange joke, but as soon as she was convinced that it was not by the looks on the faces of two upset parents, she drop the flowers as they hit the floor and she went to talk the other guards or staff to send search party. Cutemon's parents hurrying along behind her.

XXX

Completely unaware of the events that are happening in the other dimension. The Anduin River that followed a long path of water down in the center of Middle Earth, in the north is the Grey Mountains, on the region of Rhovanion is the Misty Mountains, down though between Gondor and Rohan is the Bay of Belfalas. The river never change in its course or activity, the water follow it's pathway and speeds along the length for hours of the day.

In the river their were three elven boats that are rowing on the river's path and it transported the eight remaining members of the Fellowship. The small group of other races that were sent out from Rivendell without their ninth leader, who was lost in Moria. They were heading for Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. The Ring that was forge by the Dark Lord Sauron who will use the Ring to rule and dominate over Middle Earth.

It was their second day on the river. After they left Lorien on their first day, they were mostly silent to talk. Each members of the Fellowship were keeping to their own thoughts and issues, their memories of their last stop in the Golden Woods of Lorien still in their mind and the fact the wizard Gandalf could not be there with them to share the experience of the beautiful scenery they just pass through.

As dusk drew near the new leader of the Fellowship Aragorn had directed them to the western shore. Night was not a good travel in the river when they could get ambush by orcs that patrol at night at the eastern shore. The orcs don't like sunlight and they don't patrol in the day. There was no cover in the river on boats, so they went to the opposite shore and wait for sunset to rise up in the sky and force the orcs away.

Aragorn has many years of experience out in the field, even he was a mortal man, he was determine to use all his skills to keep the Fellowship together as long as possible.

Now the Fellowship were gathered around their campfire to rest, the youngest members, the Hobbits Pippin and Merry were already asleep lying on their backs against the ground as they were resting. Gimli the Dwarf was taking another look at the vial that has three hairs of Lady Galadriel, Lady of Light from Lorien and beginning to doze off. Sam was making himself washing the pots used to make food for everyone and Frodo was staring off in space lost in his own thoughts.

The burden of the Ring was heavier on Frodo's shoulders, and thing are going to be much harder for them as they got closer to their goal.

Legolas was standing on a large boulder he claimed on. His bow was in his hand and he was watching out in the darkness that surround them. His elf eyes were on watch to be on a lookout for enemies. But he was having a strange feeling of dread that is approaching. The Elves of a strong feeling of instinct which mortals could not sense the dangers approaching.

Legolas was never wrong and he always trust his instinct, but he not sensed anything and he remained wary.

Legolas was not the only one. Aragorn and Boromir were both feeling uneasy on the day they traveled. They seen numbers of crows that were flying above the river. They may not be spies of Saruman and they think the crows were flying over for a meal on a battlefield.

Boromir was standing by the river as he was watching, he saw something in the river that was moving.

He saw something by the log that has two hands on the log and something was peaking as it blinked in the dark. Boromir saw it as he blinked and the figure run and jump off the log into the river.

Aragorn run to the river next to Boromir to catch a glimpse of what it was as it disappears in the dark.

"Gollum." Aragorn confirmed to Boromir about his suspicion. The Fellowship have spoken about Gollum and his obsession with the One Ring since they set out from Rivendell when Gandalf had explain how Ring come to Frodo's possession.

"He has tracked us since Moria." Aragorn said as he watch the log bumped against the riverbank. They knew that their pursuer had swim under the river and went off somewhere were they would not see him went. "I had hope we would lose him on the river. But he is too clever a water man."

Boromir watch at the river for the strange creature was at. "If he alerts the enemy of our whereabouts. It will make the crossing more dangerous." Boromir bitterly said.

Frodo heard Boromir's words as he was shivering. He had heard from his uncle Bilbo had describe from his own adventure and now Gollum was following them from behind was bad enough. But he couldn't stand for the thought for the other members of the Fellowship were ever put in danger. They knew they have to cross the eastern shore to Mordor and later they will have to face hordes of orcs there.

Frodo's mind went back as he remember Galadriel's words of advice a few days ago. He knew what he had to do, but the very thought doing it scared him. Now the responsibility was his alone. And Gandalf had already fallen to his death by trying to protect him. How many will follow.

"Have some food, Mister Frodo." Sam came behind him as he packing the pots away.

"No Sam." Frodo said as he was lost in thoughts.

"You haven't eaten anything all day." Sam protested "And you're not sleeping either. Don't think I notices."

Frodo remained unresponsive, was staring to the river as Gollum would leap out of the river and charge at him for the Ring he wanted. Frodo was certain that Gollum will not try to rash in when there are two men, a sturdy Dwarf, a nimble Elf nearby. Sam frowned moved closer, he has been in his employ as his gardener back in the Shire, but he was his best friend.

"Mister Frodo." He tried again.

"I'm alright." Frodo was not paying attention to him and not looking at Sam.

"But your not." Sam said as his eyes were pleading. When he was trying to help Frodo. He was worried about him about things he had in his mind.

"I am here to help you." Sam went on. "I promise Gandalf that I look after you."

That got Frodo's attention and he stared at Sam's eyes. "You can't help me Sam." Frodo said to Sam as he was hurt by his word. "Not this time."

Sam was very upset that Frodo said to him. Frodo felt bad to say to his best friend's feelings. But he now believed that less than the others had to do with him even Sam, then easier it would be when the time came to follow through with Galadriel's advice for both him and for the others. He had the best interests of everyone in the Fellowship at heart.

"Get some sleep." Frodo said still feeling guilty as he look away.

Sam stayed there for a moment. He got up and walk over to his mat. Sam lay down on his mat as he went to sleep. Frodo sighed as he too lay down on his mat to try and get some rest. But his eyes remained open the whole time. Frodo has no wish to sleep tonight, not even trusting the safety of himself or his burden to the other members of the Fellowship.

And there was a good reason for that.

One example of that reason was one of the two voices that he could hear coming from the river. It was the two Men that were talking as Frodo was attempted to sleep. It seems the two of them were wondering what is their next move and one of them disagrees on something.

"Minas Tirith is the safest route." Boromir said, he referred to the capital city of Gondor which he hailed from. "You know that. From their we can regroup and muster to strike out Mordor.

"There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us." Aragorn replied sounding very sure of himself as he said it.

Frodo could not see Boromir's face, but he could tell that he is very upset. "You were quick enough to trust the Elves. Have you so little faith in your own people?"

Aragorn did not respond as Boromir struck a nerve. He try to reassured him. "Yes, their is weakness. But there is courage and honor to be found in Men. But you do not see that."

Aragorn still didn't say anything and he was lost in thought. The eavesdropping Frodo had a good idea of what it might be. So did Boromir, Aragon was about to turn back to the camp, the Gondorian grabbed him by the shoulder of the cloak and pulled him back.

"Your afraid." He accused, his voice rising in anger and frustration. "All your life, you have hidden in the shadows. Scared of who you are."

He then released his grip on Aragorn's shoulder. To someone unfamiliar with Aragorn, Boromir's accusations might have confused them. But it made perfect sense to Frodo. Aragorn had been born as the Ranger of the North, but it was never his birthright. He was a descendant of Isildur, the last King of Gondor. This made him Isildur's Heir to the throne, a path and power which Aragorn had never wanted to take, preferring to stay in the wild and live the life as a Ranger.

Perhaps Boromir was right. Perhaps Aragorn was afraid of the responsibility that a King would demand. He was a natural leader, as evidenced by how he had taken over the leadership after Gandalf had died to guide the Fellowship on wards, but being a King would demand more than that. Aragorn had not known of his birthright until he had reach at the age of twenty, raised in the Elven city of Rivendell to be safe from those who what to end the lines of the Kings.

Aragorn dose not want to be the King. It was simple as that. But others had been long pressing upon him that it was his destiny. Aragorn had resisted such claims for years now, and yet those who made them were still insistent. It was putting a lot of pressure on him.

Aragorn swiftly ended the argument with harsh words. "I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city." He said as he turn around and walk back to camp. Boromir glared at Aragorn, but made no farther attempt to persuade him, instead just followed him back after a minute.

Aragorn's disagreement to going to Minas Tirith not only to go to the city which held the throne he was supposed to sit on. Both Aragorn and Frodo knew that Boromir had other things in on his mind than getting Aragorn there.

The One Ring that is around Frodo's neck is not some trinket that was made by Sauron. It wasn't just some powerful magical item. It has a will of it's own and it has part of Sauron's soul that is bound to it. It has the ability to corruption the hearts of others under its will and to gain power over to do whatever it wanted them to do.

Boromir had tried to pick up and take the Ring from the moment he had seen it. And though he had been a faithful member of the Fellowship all this time, there had been more than one moment where he had gotten close to the Ring and displayed traits that indicated he wished to possess it a sign that the Ring was trying to take hold of him.

He had even picked it up after Frodo had dropped it on the mountain of Caradhras though that time he had managed to resist its effects and give it back. Though it had clearly been quite difficult for him to do. And now, as they grew closer to Mordor, he was becoming more surely and insistent that they head for Minas Tirith, as well as sending dark looks at Frodo's way every now and then. Looks of jealousy.

Combine that the fact that Boromir's father Denethor, the Steward of Gondor who currently sat on Aragorn's throne had sent Boromir to Rivendell to bring the Ring back to Gondor in the first place made it absolutely clear to both of them what was on his mind.

And that was why Frodo was not going to get any sleep. Boromir was already in the grip of the Ring. Who was to say that the others were not also falling under its effects in a less obvious than the Gondorian. He had no way of knowing.

As Boromir settled down and closed his eyes, Aragorn climbed up onto the rocks to join Legolas on lookout duty for a while. Keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings for any sign of approaching danger while they let the rest of the other members to sleep.

"What are we to do if that Gollum creature does alert the enemy to our location?" Legolas spoke quietly to his friend.

"Not to worry." Aragorn whispered back. "With the road I have in mind to get us to Mordor. The orcs of the eastern shore should hopefully not be too much of a problem. Even if they are aware of our presence there."

Legolas nodded. a wary expression on his face. "And I suppose that it will prove a real challenge to us once we pass through it as well."

"More than likely." Aragorn admitted. "But at least we are unlikely to meet with any problems with the enemy for a while."

Legolas said nothing more as he continued to survey the wilderness around them while Aragorn did the same. The two glancing back down towards Boromir to make sure he was asleep, which he did went to sleep. and also towards Frodo. Aragorn felt a rush of affection for the little hobbit. The poor Ringbearer had been though so much since setting out from Rivendell. Getting stabbed by both a Morgul Blade at the hands of a Nazgul and a giant spear from a Cave Troll, as well as being grabbed in the tentacles of a enormous Kraken called the Watcher in the Water.

Aragorn could only hope the journey would get easier for Frodo.

Yet he knew that the chances of that being the case were slim.

And so the Man and Elf kept up their silent visual. Aragorn knows that Legolas would be keeping watch. Elves did not need sleep, though they did sometimes require a brief period after heavy exhaustion.

And, during the night Aragorn doses several hours into the night, Legolas' head suddenly snapped up with eyes wide. As his Elven sense tweaked at his mind. As a Sildar Elf, he was not as versed in the ways of the world and its deep powers and magic as other kinds of Elves. But this time he had suddenly felt something strange. Something completely new to him.

He had no idea what it was or whether it was good or bad, and for that reason he did not deign to waken Aragorn and let him know.

But one thing he did know was that something, somewhere, had just happened that might well change the fate of everything within Middle Earth. And whatever this strange event was, its impact on the people and the land of Middle Earth was sure to be extremely large in many ways. He could not say for better or for worse, but whatever the case, he could only hope for the future of Middle Earth.

XXX

Legolas was not the only one to sense the sudden change. Lady Galadriel of the Golden Wood had sensed the changes that were beginning to occur only yesterday. It had been faint, but it had nevertheless been there and enough to make her check her Mirror to see what it could possibly mean.

Even she did not know what she had made out in the Mirror that day only that whatever it was. The Mirror was telling her that it spelled hope for the future of everything that sided with the Light.

Now she was reclining in a seat of woven from tree roots close to her mirror. Waiting for a sign that would let her know that this new development was closer to occurring. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in a deep meditation. As if transcending her mind to see much farther than her eyes would allow her to see all the corners of Middle Earth.

Galadriel was very powerful and she did see things far beyond the borders of her woods.

And then at the exact same time as Legolas, She felt it and whatever it was caused her eyes to open immediately. It had felt like a ripple in the fabric of time and space in Middle Earth. As if the very air was reacting to it and she could sense the future changing right there on the spot. It was not enough to determine whether victory against Sauron was assured or not and it was more than likely that it would never be assured until the moment the Ring was thrown into the fires of Mount Doom.

She knew that it was time to check her Mirror once again. She rose from her throne and strode silently over to the Mirror to fill it smoothly with water once more. As before, a second figure in white robes was quick to join her as she stood over to peer into the images that it chooses to show.

Last time she had seen only one image, an image of a strange red lizard creature with a yellow scarf and the V shape forehead and jagged mouth, and that was what she saw this time too. Through this time instead of it just standing still as it had done before her. She now saw it leaping through the air with a large strange shape staff griped in one hand to slam it over the head of a large orc. And then the image changed showing a picture of other images that flitted by so fast that the average humanoid would not be able to track them.

But Galadriel was far from normal and she saw much in space of half a minute. A metal beetle creature blasting at something with what looks like waves of air from its chest. An orange wolf firing spiraling spikes from its forehead. A small golden creature shapes like a star spinning into the neck of another orc. A much larger lizard with grey skin and horns on its head charging though some underbrush with a roar. A black winged humanoid firing green bolts of energy from one arm. A tall woman with a snake for one arm wielding a sword that was big for anyone to wield. A small white bunny with a moon crest on her head and chest as she throws some kind of dart at her enemies. A white robe like wizard with a cape was using a wand to fire spells. A orange like lizard with red bands on his hands and it shot a fire breath. A pink like bird was flying with wings. A white cat like with two gloves like claws. A robe like fox with a white and black symbol on her chest and shoulders with a big brash. A another robe like wizard like the white one, this one was wearing tan robes with a purple hat and cape also using a wand too.

And more besides. Countless images of many different creatures were flashing before Galadriel's eyes, such a small green drake like lizard, an even smaller turtle like thing, a yellow armored creature that shot through the air faster than any bird, and a much larger bird covered in blue armor that could match that speed. An enormous plated reptile firing smoke from its back. A bizarre four winged dragon swinging a large double edged spear. More and more images kept coming and Galadriel looked until she saw no more.

She look up again towards the other figure, who said. "What did you see this time?"

Galadriel paused for a moment before answering. "I am unsure. But I maintain that whatever these images show, they mean a new hope for Middle Earth. A hope that we have long been lacking. The Valar has no more desire to see Middle Earth come to ruin than we."

"Then what is to be done?" The figure asked. "Any hope that we can find we must unite with both hands at this stage."

Galadriel closed her eyes. "The Mirror has revealed your path to me." She confirmed. "The path that you must take before you find your own way to guide the upcoming War in the South, though the event which is occurring at this moment shall affect all corners of Middle Earth. You must hasten to the Wold with all speed, there you shall meet a being who may one day rule the fate of many in our world. And his name is Shoutmon."

XXX

And there were others besides Galadriel that had sensed the ripple through the fabric of the world that was already wreaking great change upon the lands. In Rivendell Elrond had look up sharply from where he was consulting one of the ancient texts of Elf Lore within the extensive library of his home.

Elrond was also a powerful Elf in his own right. Not as strong as Galadriel by distance, but still extremely well versed in the magic of nature and water. And yet despite his power, he would be one of the first to admit that he believed there was little to no hope left for Middle Earth at this stage. Its lands and its people were divided and alone, and would shortly make easy picking for the likes of Sauron and Saruman and their numbers of powerful minions.

And now he frowned? What was this latest development in the fate of their world that he was sensing now?

Did this mean that hope truly was lost?

Or did it mean that there was a glimmer on the horizon after all?

XXX

A third white robe figure was having a similar reaction. Deep in the tower of Orthanc with lay at the heart of the fortress of Isengard. Saruman the White was sitting on his stone throne and his eyes also shot open as the swell in the fabric of the world blew through him like some sort of invisible cannonball.

Saruman had long been a force for good in Middle Earth until recent times where he had fallen under the spell of Sauron to extend his influence from one to the other and corrupt Saruman's heart and mind. Which was an extremely great feat as Saruman was not only incredibly powerful, but in his days as leader of the White Council he had also been very wise and willing to do what he could to aid the people of Middle Earth, as the mission for the Wizards of Istari had been given when they set out from Valinor many centuries ago.

But those days were now over and Saruman sat upon his throne now with his mind as equally bent on conquering Middle Earth under the banner of the White Hand as Sauron was doing the same under the banner of the Red Eye.

Saruman was already taking things to a whole new level, defying his old love of nature completely. The trees that had filled the grounds of Isengard had all been torn down and in their place were huge pits and caverns now dig deep into the ground. Each one connected some distance below the surface and filled with wooden walkways, planks, and ladders to allow the orcs now in Saruman's employ to move about them with efficiency. They were bathed in the deep orange light of the fires that were being produced from the wood of the dead trees, fueling the growth of Saruman's industry as orcs hammered on their anvils to create numerous weapons and thick armor.

Saruman had recently started searching for more wood by ripping up trees in the neighboring Forest of Fangorn. Tree after tree, acre after acre fell at the crude axes of his labouring orcs. All to feed Saruman's evil, twisted campaign of conquest so that the numerous new forms of evil he was creating in the pits would soon be armed and ready to march to war.

For Saruman had created a brand new breed of orcs specifically for this war. They were called the Uruk Hai and Saruman had been the first to breed this more advanced race of orc. Saruman had gone further improvements to their designs, including greater physical strength and endurance. More upright stature and resistance to sunlight. They were effectively a cross breed between Orc and Men, and they were being spawned in the pits below in their hundreds and immediately outfitted for battle.

Just recently Saruman had sent out a large party of Uruk Hai led by the first and powerful of the entire breed known as Lurtz, to hunt down the Fellowship of the Ring and kill all its members except the halflings. Who were all to be brought back to him alive.

Saruman could hear the calls of the orcs far below even from here, but that does not concern him right now. He rose off from his throne and he strode across the room to the altar which was covered in a black leather sheet. Even now he had cause to feel nervous after he had just sensed. He had also been in Middle Earth for a very long time now and yet he had never felt anything like that before. As if the fabric of reality had suddenly warped for a split second to bring something new.

He pulled off the leather sheet to reveal the large black sphere underneath it that was the Palantir. It almost appeared to be glowing red center and cloud substances floating within as if covering up the secrets of Middle Earth with them until someone attempted to use the stone to pierce through those clouds and discover more about their world.

Saruman raised his hand over it and began to shift his fingers about, closing his eyes as he focused into the stone to try and see what had cause the disturbance in the world. But as he searched for several minutes, he could not find anything that might have caused such a strange ripple and change in the balance of power that he simply could not find. Unfortunately for him the Palantir did not allow him to see into the future, only into the present and even then he could only see the outlines of major events. And that present was devoid of anything that might have caused such a something.

Which means that this had something to do with the Eldar themselves. Or possibly even higher than them.

Saruman turned his gaze towards the distant mountain land of Mordor, flowing up towards the dark tower of Barad-dur which stretched high to pierce the sky and kill the Sun and Moon and all other forms of light. And sitting nestled between the two pinnacles on the tower was the enormous form of Sauron himself.

The image of Sauron filled the Palantir, a huge eye appears in flames with a black slit down the center of the eye. Even at this distance Saruman could feel the intense malice peeling off the Eye like wisps of smoke from its flames, even it gives off a aura of power and evil.

This was a being that Saruman had no desire to cross, let alone the huge armies that he had at his disposal.

"Sauron Lord of the Earth." Saruman spoke his voice in his mind. "I have felt a strange disturbance in the fabric of the universe. I believe something new may be on the horizon, though I cannot tell whether it would be beneficial or useful to our cause and the destruction of the old world in favor of our new one. I assume that you too felt this disturbance, my Lord."

The Eye certainly had no mouth and no way of speaking, but its voice even deeper hissing and dripping with evil. Filled Saruman's head immediately and seemed to make his nerve seize up just to process what it had said "**_Yes._**"

"Do you have any further clues than I as to what it might have been?"

"**_No._**"

"Then how do you suggest we proceed for the time being, my Lord?"

"**_We shall crush Middle Earth regardless of outside interference. Keep an eye on the lands around you for any further signs of disturbance._**"

Saruman believed with every idea of his being that Sauron was telling the truth and that they would crush the forces of Men, Elf, Dwarf and any other race that was foolish enough to stand in their way. There was a time where Saruman might have believed that the West stood a chance of victory... but no longer. He seen the strength of Sauron's forces and his fortress of Barad-dur and the land of Mordor, which had allowed Sauron to take hold of him in the first place.

He now firmly believed that anything Sauron told him was the truth. Sauron was a God. Sauron was unstoppable, and so Saruman was wise to join with the winning side. He truly believed that. And every rational sense of logic had been twisted out of his body by Sauron a long time ago.

"As you wish, my Lord." Saruman nodded.

"**_When the time comes, we must respond to this latest development. I cannot sense its origins, but I believe that has originated from the Void itself. And possibly even beyond that._**"

"Then if it is to aid us, we shall utilize it best to further crush the world of Men and the other races of Middle Earth." Saruman acknowledged. "And if it does not aid us, then we shall overcome it just the same. For none have the strength to stand up to the might of Mordor and Isengard, Our victory over the lands of Middle Earth is assured even before we begin our assault."

The flames that composed Sauron's eye seemed to ignite into a more intense blaze at Saruman's words. Sauron had made many attempts over the ages to take over Middle Earth and each one of them had ended in failure so far, though victory had almost been assured for him each time, only to be repulsed at last second. This time there would be no mistakes. Middle Earth was weak and this time, it would crumble beneath his hand.

As soon as he gained back his One Ring. He would be unstoppable. The Elven Rings would finally fall under possession and with the Elves finally under his control, Middle Earth would fall all around them. There was nowhere to run for any of them, not even to Valinor itself.

He would make sure of that this time.

XXX

Shoutmon and the others were in some kind of time and space travel as they were passing through a hole of the tunnel. When the Code Crown transported them some where.

They reach to the end as they were falling like shooting stars out of the sky as they all lost consciousness as they were scattered and hit on the ground.

XXX

**Next time Chapter 5 Gandalf The White.**


	5. Ch 5 Gandalf The White

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 5 Gandalf The White **

XXX

Shoutmon was unconscious as he was starting to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and he cloud see he is on the ground. He sees that he is in a yellow grassy field and was a very dried field. When he got up from the ground. He groans as he put his hand on his head that is throbbing.

"Agh... My head hurts." Shoutmon grunts as he looks around. "Lunamon was right, I really have a hard head." As Shoutmon said it he looks around and he saw no one around him. "Lunamon, guys?" Shoutmon called for them and no one called back.

He remembers about what happened to the Code Crown and what happen to everyone. He may not know if he is in the Human world or somewhere else, But he knows he is not in the Digital World.

Shoutmon was pulled out of the Digital World.

He took several looks around him, but he could not see very much. He landed in a rough ground, with grass field with a few rocks.

Shoutmon took several steps forward, but he paused wavering as he try to find his balance after his legs were having a hard footing on the ground. After all he kind of fell out of the sky. Shoutmon had no idea where the other Digimon had landed in as well of himself.

Shoutmon lift his arm and he used his other hand to push his wrist forwards from behind so that he could stand up straight, his body clicking in protest as it did so. A small light appeared in the air above him and expanded outwards to form his microphone, which was still with him, before it dropped down into his hand. Using it as a staff to support himself on, Shoutmon moved over towards the nearest rocky wall.

When he reached it he looked up and noted that it was not that high, only about three times taller than himself. Still, he knew that climbing it was going to be a drag. Digimon healed quickly and Shoutmon could already feel the aches in his body beginning to lessen, but it would still be a pain. He had face a lot worse in his time fighting alongside Mikey against the Bagra Army and so he narrowed his eyes and without thinking he jump straight up.

Shoutmon then slam down his microphone into the wall, it plunged into the wall as he removed it. It clasped and fell to pieces as Shoutmon slams down his staff on the ground.

As Shoutmon look at his surroundings, all he sees was barren and yellow grass. He sees no village or any civilization anywhere. He was not shore if the others were here to. But he will find someone who can help him.

"Well what have I got myself into now." Shoutmon muter as he was frustrated as he rise his staff and he slam into a boulder as it was shattered into pieces. The boulder would have hurt a normal person by slamming it. But Shoutmon did not feel any pain and he smash the remains of the boulder into gravel.

After a couple of seconds he fell into one knee and his grip onto is staff to stand on his feet.

What is he doing getting all mad and frustrated that he should find his friends in this new world they are in. He should also wonder why the Code Crown sent them here if he and his friends were being tested.

After sitting their for a few moments on the ground, he gather all of his thoughts. "Alright then, Sountmon." Shoutmon murmured to himself, not having anyone near by to help him. "Now what can do you do? Must I find all my friends in this world were in and what reason we were sent here."

Shoutmon stepped closer to the edge, peering at the steep drop down on the plains on the other side.

"I guess that means there's only one option." Shoutmon sign. "Start walking and hope that I go in the right direction."

Shoutmon stood tall as he could for a moment, putting his microphone on the ground and his scarf billowing out behind him as he took in one deep breath as he allowed the moment to sink in. He was going off on a brand new world as of this moment and he had no idea where it might lead him. It might do him good. It might make him fall.

But, whatever the case, it was a new chance for adventure and he was going to attempt to grab it with both of his hands, whether or not he did deserve to be the King of his Digital World. He'd try his best to make Mikey and the others proud of him, no matter where this led him.

And then, with no destination in mind, Shoutmon bounded off the top of the rocks and dropped down a distance to a ledge below, landing smoothly as the last of the arches and pains in his body from his landing began to fade away. Springing off the rock and bounding down to another ledge. Shoutmon descended downwards towards the rolling, dry, desolate plains below.

He got about halfway down before he dashed across the ledge that he had now land on, over the large boulder that was extending outwards from the outcropping to another ledge on the same level, before he sprang off and sailed out into space, plunging down towards a thin crevice he had spotted that ran between two outcroppings close to the ground and swing his microphone above his head in both hands as he did so. He plummeted straight through the gap, but the edges of his microphone slammed into the boulders to create a crossbar, then he swung up and pulled off after, allowing him to flip the rest of the way to the ground with ease.

He had no idea where he was meant to go, and he found himself wishing that the Code Crown had given him a little more to go on than this instead of dropping him in the center of a random plain in the middle of nowhere. He looked up towards the sun that was rising into the sky above him.

He wonder how long had it been since the Code Crown had transported him away. It has been around midnight if he remember correctly it was about several hours ago. Who can say how long has it been in the Digital World. Shoutmon realizes that time in the Digital World runs faster than the Human World. But does time in this world runs faster?

How long would the Digimon wait for their King to return? How loyal where his subjects? And how he the King deserve for them to wait for his return.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, and he look up to the sun. If it was the same as the Digital World and the Human World then the sun rise in the East and set in the West. So he decides to head North.

With his microphone in his hand, Shoutmon walk out across the plains and did not look back.

XXX

Shoutmon did not know how long time has pass as he walk across the plains. He did not found any intelligent life in any distances as he continued moving forward.

Shoutmon than try calling out for any of his friends were nearby. "Guys!" He yelled. "It's me! Shoutmon! It's anyone there? Ballistamon? Dorulumon? Lunamon? Agumon?Beelzemon? Anyone there at all?" Shoutmon yelled."Greymon you big lizard you better show yourself! Sparrowmon you better come down here from the sky! Sorcermon where are you at and tell me where you are!" Shoutmon yelled for an hour and their was no response.

"Great, just great, where is everyone at and the question is where am I at?" Shoutmon murmured as he look around.

When he walk though the grass field he saw movement and when it came out of the open it was just a regular bunny. The bunny was startled as it saw Shoutmon it fled.

Shoutmon was frustrated that none of his friends were nearby so he search at his surroundings and he saw more hills, plains, and lots of grass.

After half hour he can feel the heat of the sun. It was not blazing in the plains, but the temperature was still high. He was beginning to feel thirsty for water, but there's no water in the area. It was not long as he begin to get hungry. Shoutmon remembers that Coronamon was his master chief and he made a large cake for everyone. To bad he did not take a bite for the celebration of the last remnants of the Bagra Army. When the Code Crown transported him and everyone from the castle, all but Cutemon's Parents. He wonder if they called for Omnimon and the others to search for their King and the others. The castle was disorganized without someone in charge to look after the castle. Sorcermon, Beelzemon, and Agumon were three good leaders, but they were somewhere in this world too.

But now they have no knowing that Shoutmon and the others were transported in another dimension.

Shoutmon look up to the sky. "How do we get back home from knowing so little of this world?" Shoutmon said as he wonders how can they return to their world.

Shoutmon sign as he press on as he was determined to try and find some civilization with food and water. He had more endurance as he can go on for two more days long.

He was now out on more open plains with less rocks and hills as they just seemed to stretch on. Shoutmon was convinced that his friends were not near by as he ran into the fields.

XXX

But as time has pass since Shoutmon had started walking which he had lost track of time, Shoutmon stop walking as he had senses something or someone near by. His eyes turned across the landscape and his instincts tell him that he was being watch.

Shoutmon did not move around for a minute. There was no telling what might be watching him and in a completely different dimension like this, but the sensation did not go away, and Shoutmon was not going to ignore it. He slowly turn his head to search at his surroundings as he saw nothing.

After more then five minutes of standing there, Shoutmon decided it was enough. He brought out his microphone and raising his other hand to draw out his Fiery Fastball in his hand, he was standing on his ground as he was ready to face anything in combat and he cried out. "Alright then! I know that there's somebody there! Get out here and face me like a Digimon instead of hiding! But I warn you, if you're looking for a fight then you picked the wrong guy to face me!"

The only noise he heard besides the wind and the flame in his hand. He heard a whinny sound was a animal. Shoutmon blinked.

He turn to the source of the sound behind a hill to his right. Shoutmon ready himself as he jump around the hill and he saw something that he did not expect to bring him harm. It was tall, taller than him as it trotted towards him on four hoofed legs, its pure white like the sun and has a white mane with a tail. It was calm and peaceful with its gaze. It was a white horse.

Shoutmon relax as the horse approach him, it has no attention to do him any harm. Shoutmon lower his microphone and expelled his Fiery Fastball, a smile appeared on his face as the horse came closer to him, slowing down as it approached until it stop a few feet away from him, it was looking down at him curiously.

"Hello there." Shoutmon grinned. "Sorry if I scared you before, but I was expecting an attack. What is your name?... Uh, can you talk? No other lifeforms I met can't talk, so can you tell me?" Shoutmon asked.

The horse stared at him giving no reaction or moving. Shoutmon sign. "Just what I thought." He murmured. "But hey, its nice for something that didn't run away from me."

Shoutmon stepped closer to the horse as it made no intention in running or moving. Shoutmon can tell the animal was a brave one. Shoutmon slowly reach out his one hand, he wonder if the horse well react and it did, the horse stepped closer and lower its head as it's nose touch Shoutmon's palm of his hand. Shoutmon know that this horse is friendly and gentle as he rub it's nose with his hands.

"Well you're certainly a fearless one." Shoutmon said. "I wonder where you live. I wonder where can you tell me the nearest water and civilization is if you actually tell me. I wonder if you even had a name whatever it is."

"His name is Shadowfax." Said a voice from behind Shoutmon.

The Digimon King acted on instinct alone, immediately leaping backwards from the horse and spinning around, his hand was forming a Fiery Fastball attack and he yelled as he throw it at a figure which was standing behind him. The Fiery Fastball shot through the air as it expanded as it was heading to the figure.

The figure seemed to know something like this would happened, the moment Shoutmon turned around it was a shining bright light that it made Shoutmon flinch as his hand covered his eyes. It threw his aim off and the figure only side step slightly for the fire ball to go pass it as it hit into a rocky wall as it exploded causing a massive explosion that destroyed the wall.

The horse neighed and tossed its head as Shoutmon growled and readied his microphone. He hates it when people sneak behind him just to ambush him.

"Relax Shoutmon." said the figure calmly as Shoutmon could not make out who it is from a bright light. "I am not here to fight you."

Shoutmon growled. "Is that so? Forgive me if I don't believe you, because in my experience people who don't want to fight do not sneak up behind someone." He lifted his microphone behind him and he dashed then jumps into the air and prepared to bring the microphone to slam down into the light figure with a powerful Soul Crusher.

But, without warning, the figure thrust out one of his own hands which was holding some kind of staff in Shoutmon's direction. Shoutmon was a few feet away until the tip of the staff slammed into him and sent him flying backwards. He tumbled as he flip over in the air and came crashing down to the ground on his feet. "Why you...!" He growled, bringing his microphone before him and ready to charge at the figure again.

"Peace, Shoutmon." The figure cried and his voice seemed to wash over Shoutmon, making him stop in his tracks. "Do not mistake me for an enemy. I was telling the truth. I do not wish to fight you. I rather wish to help you, for you are now lost in a strange world that is not your own. I believe that you could do with some guidance at this world."

Shoutmon blinked. "How do you know that?" He asked. "And how do you know my name?"

"I came here to see you Shoutmon King of the Digimon." The figure said

Shoutmon was shock to learn that the figure know his title and he watched as the light around the figure fade away. Shoutmon was amazed at what he sees. The figure was a man and is human. He never seen a human quite like him. He was very old than any humans that he work with or spoken to before.

The human had long white hair that fell pass his shoulders and a short white beard that extended down on his face. He wore in a long white robes hanging over the rest of his clothing and boots that were also white. He had a long staff in his hand is also white.

The man smiled, and Shoutmon could not deny that the smile was friendly. "I been sent here to find you." He explained. "And to help you on your course to proving yourself as a King and, if you are willing to assist us in the fight against Sauron."

"Who are you?" Shoutmon asked him. He noticed that the man also had a belt and the folds of his robe has a large sword.

The man chuckled. "I have been given many names over the course of my travels through the land. Some called me the Wanderer. Some called me the Wizard. The Elves who live in the North have named me Mithrandir. But the number of people that I meet call me by my name. I am Gandalf. Gandalf the White."

"White is right." murmured Shoutmon. "What's with the robes and staff and the whiteness?" Shoutmon blinked. "You remind me of Sorcermon who is a White Wizard and my adviser."

Gandalf chuckled. "I suppose I am somewhat similar to Sorcermon and you could say it is my rank. You see, Shoutmon. I am a member of a group known as the Istari what Men refer to as Wizards."

"Wizards?" Shoutmon said. "As in, the kind of people who can use magic? Well, I guess it does make sense. It explains how you were able to knock me backwards just by waving your staff... but I thought that humans didn't have the ability to use magic?"

"Most humans do not." Gandalf nodded. "But we do not call them Humans in this world. We simply call them Men. And I am certainly not a Man. I have lived far longer than any Man is capable of living with or without magic. I am a Maiar."

"A what...?" Shoutmon frowned. "And why am I having this conversation? How do I know that I can trust you at all?"

"If you will allow me to explain then perhaps you will understand. We are in the world of Middle Earth home of many races."

"Is that where we are now then?" Shoutmon asked.

"Yes." Gandalf nods. "This world is in trouble. But allow me to explain. One thousand years into the Third Age of the Sun, and the Valar decided to select five Maiar spirits across the sea from Valinor to Middle Earth to help guide its people against evil. I am one of those five and we are the Wizards of Middle Earth. It is our sacred task to help all its people against evil, and I have done my best from the beginning of my mission here to do that."

"That sounds very complicated to me." Shoutmon murmured, still suspicious of this man that had appeared before him.

"It gets more complicated." Gandalf chuckled. "The color of our robes represents our position in the Order of Five. The White Robes indicate that I am the Head of the Order. Until very recently, I wore Grey, which said I am the second rank. But the original head of our Order has betrayed us all and joined forces with our enemy, now I wear the White Robes as his replacement. I only wish for the safety of all the free peoples of Middle Earth, regardless of where they come from or how long they live here. And that includes you Shoutmon. So, while you may still be confused and angry by being landed here, may I be the first to formally welcome you to Middle Earth."

"I wish I could say that it was a pleasure to be here." Shoutmon replied, lowering his microphone as he decided to take this man at his word. "But I have to say I did not appreciate by being thrown in here without being asked." He signed and add. "Nevertheless I have little to complain about since this same thing happened to a friend of mine when he came to help me and my world."

"Quite." Gandalf nodded with a smile on his face.

"But, anyway." Shoutmon forced a smile on his face. "I guess I can say that it is a pleasure to meet you Gandalf. I've been wondering around these plains with no sign of anyone who can help me for who knows how long."

"Indeed." Gandalf laughed. "I am not surprised. Were I in your place then I would no doubt feel the same."

"Well it's not just me in this position." Shoutmon grunted. "So many of my friends were also warped here by my Code Crown. All the members of my team expect for the humans... Men... whatever. I need to find them all as quickly as I can before any of them get hurt thanks to the Code Crown acting on my own self doubts. I never thought that this would be one of the consequences of a King who doubted himself."

Gandalf smiled slowly and said. "I'm afraid that I must apologize slightly, for I believe I may have been involved in your transportation here from your own world."

"You?" Shoutmon asked. "Why you?"

"Because, not long ago, I faced a powerful adversary. A fellow Maiar spirit like myself, but not a member of the Istari. Another one, steeped in darkness and flames and taking on the shape of an evil Demon known as a Balrog. It was a long and gruesome battle, during which I fell down into the deepest of the mountain to its very summit. The Balrog was a powerful creature until eventually, I was able to cast him down and slay him. But, in the process, I was claimed by darkness and my spirit taken to the Valar."

"You died?" Shoutmon gasped. "But how can you have died? You're standing here right now."

"Indeed." nodded Gandalf. "The Valar had been watching my progress. It was greatly saddened by the betrayal of Saruman, the former head of my Order, and he knows that Middle Earth is in need of guidance more now than ever. Middle Earth is in its final hour of need, so the Valar send my spirit back into my body until as time as I fulfill the task I was sent to Middle Earth to do, giving me new power in the process to allow me to take Saruman's place as Gandalf the White."

"Perhaps it was the fact that the Valar chose to revive me that also made them attempt to seek out another method of sending aid to the Free Peoples, which is how they came by you and your own allies."

Shoutmon sighed. "Nah, it's not your fault. And I guess I can't blame this Valar too much. After all they want what's best for this world, just as the Code Crown and Omnimon did before him. Still." Shoutmon added with a chuckle. "I can't believe that I'm standing here and talking to an actual Wizard. A Wizard who died and came back to life through divine intervention. I guess in the why that makes us the same."

"Indeed?" Gandalf asked with a raised brow.

"You don't know?" Shoutmon asked. "You seemed to know a lot of other things."

"I only know what I been told." Gandalf chuckled. "Which is who and what you are, how you have been summoned to Middle Earth and why. I know not what you are capable of doing, how you and your friends might be able to help you or indeed what any of your friends look like, let alone your past adventures. I was sent here by the Lady Galadriel of the Golden Wood and by the will of the Valar to introduce you to our world, but that is the extent of what I know."

"Fair enough." Shoutmon nodded. "Well, I'll tell you then. There was a time when I was fighting against an enemy called DarknessBagramon, who was also large Demon but who was also very powerful than I was. I lost my own life in the fight against him in an attempt to take back the Code Crown, which he had in his possession."

"But thanks to the actions of my friend Mikey, the Code Crown was able to break free of DarknessBagramon's control and revive me and some of my friends to fight against him again and gave us extra power enough to defeat him once and for all."

"I see." Gandalf smiled. "Well, if that is indeed the case, then you and I really are the same in many aspects, Shoutmon. It is a privilege to meet a kindred spirit such as yourself."

"Just wait until you meet Beelzemon then." Shoutmon laughed. "He's even more like you. He actually managed to take out the Demon he was trying to kill. And he's been reborn twice since he was beaten by the same Demon in their first round."

Gandalf laughed as well. "Interesting. You would think that dying in the destruction of a mighty Demon and being reborn would not be a common occurrence. But apparently it happens more often than you might think."

"Yeah." Shoutmon nodded. "I guess it does."

The two of them chucked together for a moment before Shoutmon eventually wiped his eyes and said. "Alright then. Since it looks like I'm going to be stuck in this Middle Earth for the foreseeable future, I guess I should know what sort of situation me and my friends have managed to wind up in this time. Do you have any of those details that you could fill me in."

"Indeed I do." Gandalf's face turned grim. "It is sad to say that Middle Earth now stands on the brink of destruction. If the balance of power shifts any more in the favor of the Enemy then it's very likely that hope will be lost forever and evil will spread across this land in an unstoppable tide."

"I wouldn't say that." Shoutmon growled. "No matter how much of an advantage the enemy seems to have there is always hope on the horizon. I learned that one in my own fight. The enemy that I fought did manage to take over the world, but through the power of our teamwork, we managed to push back and take back our world from him all the same."

Gandalf's eyebrows had both raised upwards. "Is that so?" He asked. "Then I greatly admire you, Shoutmon, for having stepped up to such task and saving your world. And I count it a great honor to have fighters such as you and your warriors in our world now. Perhaps there is more hope than there seems."

"There better be." Shoutmon nodded darkly. "So who is this great enemy that I'm supposed to be helping you guys to battle against? If he's anything like Bagramon then we might still be in trouble, for we had access to powers against our very own evil threat that we will not have in this world."

"We can only hope that we will prevail then." Gandalf replied. "For our enemy is indeed great. His name is Sauron. He is a Maiar spirit like myself, but one of far greater power than I. He was once the lieutenant of an even more powerful evil, but when that being was subdued in ages past. Sauron took over to try and take his turn at reclaiming Middle Earth."

"Sauron." Shoutmon murmured. "Hmm. I know that it might sound like some kind of lame pun, but that name does leave a fierce name, I have to admit. It definitely sounds like a name for a great evil.

"Befitting indeed," Gandalf nodded. "This is not the first time that Sauron has attempted to take over the lands of Middle Earth and waged war against it, but as things stand now he might have a better chance of succeeding than he did last time. The peoples of Middle Earth were united back in the first attempt, and Sauron and his armies of dark creatures found themselves up against heavy defenses everywhere they went, and eventually the forces of good were able to push him back and destroy his armies and even his body. Many believe the threat to be vanquished completely, but Sauron's spirit managed to survive and has been long trying to gain enough strength to start again."

"It is sad to say that during his absence, the races of Middle Earth have grown separate and apart, the old alliances between them dying out as many believed they were no longer needed. But now Sauron has returned, filled with rage and determined to succeed once again. His armies are now of immense size and his terrible servants who went into hiding after his body was destroyed have no returned to spread their evil on all the lands once again."

"But how could his spirit survived if his body was destroyed?" Shoutmon frowned. "I mean, the soul of the Digimon is immortal even if our bodies are destroyed our souls remains alive, but still have no sense of themselves until we're reborn. Is that the same thing with Sauron?"

"Not quite." Gandalf shook his head. "Sauron's spirit should have been destroyed along with his body, but there was something which kept him alive." Gandalf hesitated. "What I am about to revel to you has become common knowledge, but there is a section to this story that is known to few, and must not be learned by the Enemy at any cost. Right now I must ask you, whether you help us not to give this information to anyone that you meet except your fellow Digimon once you find them."

Shoutmon frowned and stared into Gandalf's eyes for any hint of lies, but Shoutmon has already begin to trust this man. He felt that before when he meet Lucemon had been friendly and later reveled to be evil. He decided to listen to Gandalf what he had to say and he nodded. "Alright. I swear it."

"My thanks." Gandalf nodded as he begin. "You see, Sauron's master plan is to take over the Lands of Middle Earth was to trick the smiths that were Elves, who are a powerful race of beings that lived in forest of this land, to forge special Rings of Power to distribute to all Kingdoms while Sauron forge another Ring one that was designed to bring the wielders of other Rings of Power under his control therefore all of the Kingdoms of Middle Earth."

"Why that is one of the lowest things I ever heard in my life!" Shoutmon growled. "Even Bagramon was not as bad as that! Though AxeKnightmon probably would have been."

Gandalf cough. "I have to agreed with you. And it worked, to a degree. Many Kingdoms did fall to ruin underneath the rule of Sauron's Master Ring. But, during the final battle when Sauron stepped onto the battlefield, the Ring was cut from his finger by a Man called Isildur. And the Ring is tied to Sauron in so many ways he put a large portion of his power and even a part of his soul and blood into the Ring which meant that moment it was separated from him, Sauron's body was destroyed."

Shoutmon blinked and Gandalf stop for Shoutmon to take in all the information. Then Shoutmon suddenly yelled. "Say what! What a complete idiot! That has to be one of the stupidest things that anyone has ever done in existence! Why in the world would he put so much power into the Ring?"

"Unfortunately if you knew the answer to that question, you would realize why is not the case." Gandalf sighed. "Placing a portion of his soul into the Ruling Ring gave it a will of its own. It is now a part of him, and even though it might seem to be an inanimate object, it can carry out its own goals in the right conditions and can corrupt the hearts of anyone who gets close to it. That meant that Sauron could easily manipulate the wielders of the other Rings of Power to come into his service and do his bidding."

"Well... I guess." Shoutmon murmured. "But it still sounds like a stupid thing to do if you ask me."

"There is more." Gandalf went on. "The Ring still exists today. It was able to corrupt Isildur into keeping it and then managed to lure in evil to kill Isildur and went into hiding as Sauron's spirit gained strength once again. And now, both have resurfaced. Sauron is still a mere spirit, but he was able to take physical form and he is still able to command the forces of evil against us even if he cannot fight us himself. The only thing he needs now to regain his body completely is the Ring itself. His power in the Ring might have been what destroyed him, but it is also what saved him."

"Ah..." Shoutmon murmured. "All of this is really doing a number on my head. I can tell you that this is quite a lot to process. And you're saying the Ring still exists? Why don't you destroy it?"

"That is much more difficult a task than it might sound." Gandalf said gravely. "It cannot be destroyed by many things like weapons, nor can be destroyed by magic. It is too powerful an artifact for that since it contains part of Sauron. There is only one way to destroy it. It must be taken to the place where it was forged in the depths of Mount Doom and thrown into the fires. Its magic prevents it from being destroyed in any other things."

"Then why not do that?" Shoutmon asked.

"This is the part that few people know about." Gandalf grimly said. "We are in the middle of attempting to try. A group of adventurers are on their way into Mount Doom as we speak. But they have many problems set before them. For one thing, the exposure to the presence of the Ring is sure to affect them in many ways and the Ring will grow stronger the closer it gets to Mount Doom. Because Mount Doom is in the country of Mordor and Mordor is the stronghold of Sauron himself. Sauron's main fortress lies but a few miles away from the mountain itself. It is a very dangerous journey indeed."

"Er..." Shoutmon blinked several times, as the situation sank in. "Well... that's pretty... inconvenient. And very much a problem."

"Exactly." nodded Gandalf.

"There must be an alternative, surely." Shoutmon murmured thoughtfully. "What if you were able to just toss it to the bottom of the ocean or into a tar pit or something?"

"That might prevent Sauron from gaining the Ring again for a long time, if at all." Gandalf nodded. "But it would not be a permanent solution, nor would it help the free people right now. Sauron may not have the One Ring, but he has massive armies at his disposal along with numerous dark creatures and other forms of evil that are already threatening this world. Merely ensuring the Ring stays lost would not solve that problem."

"No. The only way that we can win this war is to destroy Sauron entirely. And the only way to destroy Sauron's spirit is to destroy the Ring. Without the Ring as his vessel, Sauron's spirit will vanish, his armies will be leaderless and everything his evil created will be destroyed. But until that time, everything is under threat."

Shoutmon shook his head. "This sounds both familiar and the exact opposite to what happened back in my Digital World. You're fighting against a Dark Lord who wants to use an object of great power to take over the world, just like we did. But this time, you want to destroy the object instead of getting it back from him and using it yourself. I don't suppose there's is any chance of using the Ring against him?"

"The Ring would grant anyone who used its power of some description." Gandalf nodded. "And the more powerful the being in question the greater that power will be. But the Ring would easily corrupt anyone who tried to use it in that way and eventually their will would be turned towards evil as well. The Ring has only one true Master that it will obey and acknowledge. And I think you know who that is."

"Yeah, I think I get it now." Shoutmon nodded, as he thinks what Gandalf said. "Dark Lord. Using powerful artifact. Nobody else can use it against him. Only way to defeat him is to destroy it. Got it. I have to say I feel sorry for you guys now. I think that the problem you guys have managed to land yourselves in is almost as bad, if not just as bad as ours was."

"It certainly is dire." Gandalf agreed.

"Dire might be an understatement." Shoutmon snorted. "What's going to happen to this group you spoke of that are heading towards this Mount Doom place? Sounds like some kind of suicide mission to me."

Gandalf actually winced and Shoutmon was surprised to see intense pain filling his eyes.

When Shoutmon looked deeper into those eyes, he was shocked to discover just how old they seemed. Shoutmon had found some of the things Gandalf had been saying about living for so long. Now he could honestly say he believed every word.

"It may well come to being a suicide mission, as you put it." He signed heavily. "The Ring is now being carried by a Hobbit, a small but resilient creature about half the height of a Man straight towards Mordor, as we speak."

"Small means nothing."Shoutmon chuckled. "Sometimes it's the small ones that can really surprise you."

"Indeed." Gandalf agreed. "But I fear that I played a part in giving the Ring Bearer his terrible burden and it pains me to think of him going into such a dangerous quest has now begun, and I cannot carry the Ring in his place, for through my power it would gain hold over me far more quickly than it would a small powerless creature as he. What has begun must now be finished, and Frodo, for that is his name, must see it through to the end."

Shoutmon paused for a moment, taking in the pain Look on Gandalf's face again and after a quiet thinking, he muttered. "You care for him, do you?"

"Yes." Gandalf nodded. "I have known him for many years, and I count him among my dearest friends. I was once the leader of the group who now escort Frodo to Mordor, but my encounter with the Balrog separated me from them and I know not where they even are now, though I do have a friend who is helping me to search for them as we speak and discover what has happened to them. But whatever the case, I can no longer take over the Quest and stop Frodo from carrying out this task to let someone else take his place. He must carry it out now."

Shoutmon nodded, turning around to glance out the horizon once again. The white horse was still there, tossing its head and whining was it watched the exchange between the two. That place around them seemed so peaceful to Shoutmon, but so had many parts of the Digital World way back when. Looks of peace could be deceiving.

Shoutmon knew then that he believed everything Gandalf said. He now trusted this Wizard to the extreme. The world suddenly seemed a darker place now that he knew of the evil that was lurking within it at some kind of deep seated and all devouring evil that the Bagra Army had once before.

Shoutmon wanted to find his friends and get the Fusion Fighters United Army back together. Both so that he knew that everybody was safe, but also because he had a feeling that they were all going to be needed to fight this evil.

"So." Shoutmon turned back to Gandalf after several moments. "What exactly is it that you want from me and my friends to do? Do you want us to band together and go with you to help in this quest to destroy the Ring. Because if you do then I need to find my comrades first."

"No." Gandalf shook his head. "That task is now Frodo's. He will have a far better chance of completing it if the band involved in the Quest is kept small. That way, they should be able to slip past Sauron and his armies without attracting their attention."

"We are quite powerful." Shoutmon pointed out. "Many of us are extremely strong on our own. I would like to see how this Sauron's armies respond when Deckerdramon charges at them, and I know that he's here in Middle Earth somewhere along with Lilamon and Stingmon."

"We cannot achieve victory with strength alone." Gandalf replied. "We must deceive Sauron even as he tries to deceive us. Even without the Ring, Sauron's forces are ready to move and already have done in many instances. He has manipulated the former White Wizard Saruman, into betraying us and building an army of his own to attack the Free Peoples, and their strikes against Middle Earth will begin long before the Ring reaches its final destination in the Fires of Mount Doom."

"Ah, I see." Shoutmon nodded. "And you want me and the others to help and ensure that all the Kingdoms of Middle Earth are still standing by the time that the Ring does get destroyed."

Gandalf grin. "Yes, That is the plan. Sauron has enormous numbers of Orcs and evil Men at his command, as well as large numbers of Trolls and other giant monsters and creatures, not to mention his personal servants, the Nine Nazgul. He will pit all of them against the Free Peoples of Middle Earth."

"I don't know what most of those things are, but I got the main guess of that." Shoutmon supplied.

"But that is only part of the idea." Gandalf added with a chuckle. "We need to try and keep Sauron's gaze occupied on his main war effort and attempt to keep his mind occupied and away from the events that are closer to him, so that is less likely to notice the Ring Bearer transporting his most precious and evil treasure right into his threshold to destroy it and finally defeat him. If we can keep Sauron focused on us and more specifically you... then we can also increase Frodo's chances of success."

"Sounds like the strategy we used in a place called Hell's Field." Shoutmon nodded.

"Our enemy's leader was just a kid who was being tricked into attacking us so we attacked him head on with several of our forces to distract his attention and his army while Mikey, Greymon and MailBirdramon went round the side and took him off guard in his own fortress so that he could try and convince him to stop."

"Yes, it does sound similar to that." Gandalf agreed. "It seems there are many parallels between events in your world and ours, Shoutmon."

"So many that it's almost scary." Shoutmon agreed with a chuckle.

"Indeed. But now is the time for the important question." Gandalf passed his staff across himself so that he was holding it in both hands. "The one that you have not yet answered throughout this whole conversation. Will you help us?"

Shoutmon said nothing for a moment, and when he started speaking again, what he was saying did not seem relevant to Gandalf's question.

"There's a phrase that we have back in our world, Gandalf." He began. "A simple phrase that started out as something our lead General, Mikey Kudo, would always say when he saw someone suffering. That phrase has been converted into my main motto, and the motto of my court, my kingdom and the entire Digital World. I don't know if I have the right to be King, but that phrase certainly applies in this situation even so. Our magic number is seven, and this phrase is composed of seven simple words, and since each is only one syllable, it is composed of seven of them as well."

"It is the perfect answer to your question. Do you want to know what it is?"

"I would." Gandalf nodded.

Shoutmon hefted his microphone and thrust it into the air, filling his lungs with air and yelled out the phrase into the sky. "I CAN'T TURN MY BACK ON YOU!"

Gandalf blinked, but then after a couple of moments he laughed. It was clear laugh that rang through the hills as the echoes of Shoutmon's answer died away. "A worthy phrase indeed." He smiled. "And one that the Kingdoms of this land might do well to adopt. I take it that means you are saying yes?"

"Course it does." Shoutmon smirked. "I know that Mikey would never turn his back on you were he called here and I cannot call myself his friend if I did otherwise. But even without Mikey's influence, I would still say yes, and not just because I am stuck here. I too cannot turn my back on those who are in need of my help. I will help fight against Sauron, and when we find the rest of my friends who are here I know that they will do the same."

"It seems the Valar chose well when they summoned you here." Gandalf chuckled. "We are indebted to you already and the fighting has not even begun. Now, if you are willing, I have a friend that I must speak with and I wish for you to come along, for I will guide you to the war faster than you could get if you continue walking north. We can keep an eye out for your friends on the way."

"I do have to find them." Shoutmon nodded. "But yeah, of course I'll come along. I had a feeling I was hopelessly lost anyway."

"You are far from anywhere civilized out here on the Wold of Northern Rohan." Gandalf nodded, as he strode over to the horse Shadowfax. The horse was bare backed, but it allowed Gandalf to haul himself up onto his back. The white robes seemed to blend Gandalf in with the white horse. "Come on board." He nodded down to Shoutmon. "We have a long way to travel and Shadowfax is among the fastest of horses in existence."

"Gotcha." Nodded Shoutmon and he sprang upwards, clearing Shadowfax's back with a single bound and settling in front of Gandalf and right behind the horse's head, gripping its thick neck. Shadowfax didn't seem to need any command from his rider, the moment Shoutmon had a good grip, he tossed his head and turned to the west and threw himself into a gallop, running across the plains faster.

" Oh, and one more thing." Shoutmon added as he looked over his shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to have any water on you, would you?"

XXX

**Now Shoutmon met Gandalf the White Wizard. Now is back to the other Digimon in the North and South in Middle Earth.**

**Next time on Chapter 6: The South**


	6. Ch 6 The South

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 6 The South**

**Hello everyone you are wondering why I wrote this story. Because I like the story the author writes about this, but some years later he did not wrote it and did not reply. So I was going to finish it what the author could not and he left out some things he did not add, so I am changing the story different and adding more characters. I hope to try my best to complete it.**

XXX

With a moan, one of the three red Monitamon push himself up and touch the top corner of his small television head. That was not a very pleasant landing. He wasn't sure what happened really when the Code Crown flared up. All he could remember was being thrown into some rocks as if he'd teleported somewhere very different.

"Ugh, I don't want to do that again." He murmured to himself.

He heard someone nearby. "Help! Somebody help!"

A muffled voice cried, and the Monitamon look over towards the direction of the voice quickly and was rather alarmed to see another of his kind... except that his head was stuck between two large boulders and completely out of sight leaving him trap upside down with his legs flailing in the air. "I'm stuck!" He cried, his voice was covered by rocks around his head. "I can't get out. Please! Is anyone out there?"

The first Monitamon quickly push himself up and tried to run over towards his trapped brother, but sudden wave of dizziness from the hard landing caused him to lose balance, trying to regain his balance and not succeeding. "Oh, my head hurts." He moaned.

"Your head hurts?" The second one cried. "My head is stuck here between these two boulders! Quick and get me out of here. I think that my screen is about to break."

"Oh boy." The first Monitamon shook himself quickly and slowly over to the other Monitamon as his dizzy body was able to take him until he was standing next to the gap were the other one was wedged.

"Don't worry." He declared. "I'll get you out of there. Just hold on."

"I don't have to hold on!" The Monitamon that is stuck declared.

"I'm the one who is stuck between two boulders!" When he was about to help the one that is stuck, he heard another voice.

"Is anyone there?" Another voice called out behind a boulder and the first Monitamon look and saw the third Monitamon came behind the boulder.

"I need some help to pull him out!" The first Monitamon said to the third.

"I will be right with you!" Said the third Monitamon as the two of them grab one leg of the second Monitamon.

"Hurry up you guys I don't want to be stuck here forever!" The stuck Monitamon said to the other two. The two Monitamons pull as the second Monitamon was yelling out! "Ow! Stop! Your hurting my head!" The other two Monitamons stop as they are not sure what to do, until they heard a voice behind them.

"Are you guys need of help?" The voice called out, they turn and saw a big metal beetle like machine.

"Ballistamon! Your here!" The first Monitamon cheerfully.

"One of ours is stuck can you help him." The third Monitamon pleaded.

"Don't worry you guys I will help your friend out of there." Ballistamon said as he used his strength to push the two boulders that wedge the second Monitamon, and he was free as he landed on the ground.

"I'm free. I hope I don't have my screen crack."

"Speaking of, were are we?" Ballistamon said to the others, what they see around them is a rocky terrain full of rocks in a quarry in a fog.

"I never seen this place before?" Monitamon R1 said as he was not sure where is he at.

"We don't think this is the Digital World were in now?" Monitamon R2 and R3 both said as they don't know where they are.

The four Digimon do remember they were at the castle, celebrating their victory until the Code Crown was acting strange and teleported them in a different world. "Where are the others at you guys?" Monitamon R3 said to the others.

"I didn't see anyone." Ballistamon shook his head. "You guys are the only ones I see so far."

"What are we going to do now?" Monitamon R2 asked.

Monitamon R3 shrugged. "I don't know. We are lost and we don't know where the others are at?"

"There is one thing we can do now." Ballistamon said as he passed the three red Monitamons. "We search and find something. You three coming?"

The three Monitamons look at each other as Ballistamon was walking away, the three Monitamons hurried to follow him. "Hey! Wait up!" Monitamons all said as they catch up to him.

XXX

In the city of Rohan was build on the hill close to the White Mountains. It has a large wood walls and wooden houses with many Rohan Peasants that live there. Their was the Golden Hall of Meduseld at the top of the hill were the King of Rohan named Theoden son of Thengel sat at his throne.

In the city the people are filled with despair when their King was weak and was not himself. They can all feel that the troubles of Middle Earth. Now there was strange thing happening in the city. The Soldiers of Rohan called Rohirrim men in armor came out of the Golden Hall. One of them was Hama the warden of the Hall, and the other was Gamling, one of the captains of the King's Royal Guard. Both of them have long hair and thick beards, Hama's was reddish brown and Gamling's was dirty blonde. They were accompanied by men all wear long green cloaks and chainmail armor. Most of them were armed with spears and swords, a few of them are armed with bows. They were being led by a peasant who is hurried to show them something.

"That is impossible." Gamling said. "How can creatures get past the city walls without the guards notice anything?"

"I don't know." The peasant said as he was worried. "All I know is that my family and I heard a crashing sound coming from inside the building and there they are as real as they appear."

"Did you trap them?" Hama asked as he prepare to drawn his sword out to be ready for anything.

"I think so. We locked them in a room, but they look very strong, they could be able to break out of the house. Here is my house." The peasant led the guards towards he house. There was a woman standing looking scared with two of her children in her arms and they stare at the house. There is a large crowd surrounding the house all looking very nervous and not sure what to do.

"In the room you say?" Gamling asked.

"Yes, it is in the left." The man nodded to him. Gamling and Hama look at each other as they prepare for anything. Several guards move in behind them with spears to face anything. They saw the door they were heading to. They quietly approach the door as they could, Gamling slowly reach out his hand on the doorknob and brace himself to open it.

Gamling turn around and check that his men are ready pointing there spears at the door. He nodded and raised three fingers quietly then lowered by three... two... Before he could lower his last finger, something large, yellow, and very sharp suddenly punctured through the wooden door and it almost impaled him in the head. Gamling jumped backwards, all the men did the same and they were taken off guard. The sharp object was withdrawn from the door and leaving a gap in the hole.

Moments later, something very large broke through the door. It was some kind of wolf and with it was a small white cat stand on two legs with two claw like gloves. The men gasp what they saw the two creatures in front of them. "It's a Warg!" One of them cried.

"It's a cat like creature on a Warg!" The other one cried.

"Excuse me?" Dorulumon said in confusion. "I'm a what?"

"A cat like creature seriously?" Gatomon asked oddly.

"Kill them!" One of the guards yelled as they charge at them.

Dorulumon and Gatomon both knew their answer as the guards thrust their spears at them. Dorulumon swatted them with his drill like tail and he slammed into the wall and burst out into the streets with Gatomon riding on his back. The villagers screamed and they all ran away from them. Dorulumon and Gatomon were searching for a way out of the city. The Rohirrim lead by Hama and Gamling run outside with three men armed with swords and spears drawn.

"Wait!" Dorulumon yelled at them. "Were not your en…!" A sword nearly slashed at him as he doge his head.

"I don't think they will listen to us!" Gatomon said as the two of them run away from them. The men were trying to pursuit them. But they cannot catch up to Dorulumon's speed.

"That is not like any Warg I ever seen and that cat like creature is something new." Hama said as they chase them.

"They can speak."

"They could be creations of the White Wizard's abominations."

Gamling growled as he had the idea of why. "Quick! Get to the stables and bring our horses! We must hunt those things down before they hurt too many of our people!"

"Yes sir!" The guards said as they hurried to the stables, while the rest of the guards spread out into the streets to find them.

XXX

"Coming through!" Dorulumon yelled as he run past the crowd with Gatomon on his back. Dorulumon rush and jump onto the roof of the building as they both look around the city. They saw a mountain and plains behind the walls of the city. "Where are we?" Dorulumon asked Gatomon.

"It looks like were not in the Digital World anymore." Gatomon said to him. "Well this place doesn't look familiar."

"There they are!"

A voice called out and both Dorulumon and Gatomon turned. They saw more guards running towards them. Two of them are armed with bows with arrows. They draw it and fired the arrows at them. Dorulumon block them with his tail drill. "Right. Let's get out of here." Dorulumon said to Gatomon. "We should find out where we are and escape this place."

She said as they continued to run and they saw two more guards armed with swords ready to cut them down. Dorulumon rush at them and then jump over them as he continued to run. He stops as they saw Peasants run into their houses and shut the door behind them. Dorulumon and Gatomon were both looking for a way out and they found a gate of the city. It was wide open at the path down from the hill.

They were about to make a escape, until they heard hooves sound stomping on the ground behind them. They turn and saw several men on horses armed with spears. They were annoyed as they hurried to the gates. They made swift turns by houses to avoid the spears of horsemen, they can't seem to lose them as they are in the same pace. They saw two more horsemen blocking there path, Dorulumon quickly turn right in another direction. They both knew they could fight them, however they knew they were protecting their people. They saw more horsemen to cut them off to run them down. They quickly turn left in between the two houses. All the horsemen stop before they collide to one other.

Dorulumon and Gatomon were heading to the gates, until Gamling and Hama came behind them on horses as they follow them to the gates. "Quickly!" Hama shouted. "Close the gates! We can't let them escape!" The men at the top of the gates quickly grabbed the steel switch at the top and began to turn the wheel, the gates began to close. Even the archers above the wall near the gates open fired there arrows at the two Digimon. Dorulumon quickly jump to the side to avoid the arrows. Dorulumon and Gatomon both feel sorry about this and they shout out.

**"DRILL BUSTER!"**

**"CAT LASER!" **

Dorulumon fired a drill on his head and Gatomon fired from her eyes.

The attacks suddenly hit the walls. The archers and the men turning the wheel were taken off guard and they all drop to the ground. They quickly pick up speed to get pass the gate. The men realized what's happening, they all got up and hurried to close the gate, but they were to late as Dorulumon and Gatomon slipped pass the gap of the gate as they made it out before it close. Dorulumon used his tail drill to use a tornado to block the arrows to get away.

Gamling and Hama pulled their horses to a stop before they crash into the gates. The rest of the horsemen came from the streets to them.

"Darn!" Gamling grunted. "Quick! Open the gates again! Riders of Rohan to me! We must not let those creatures escape!" The gatekeeper hurried and turn the wheel to open the gates again to let the riders to pursue them in the plains. Both Dorulumon and Gatomon were already far ahead of them.

However someone was watching the whole scene and it was at the Golden Hall, A woman in white robes and long golden hair, was wondering why two creatures appear in their city and they think Saruman was behind this.

XXX

Next near the river was Mervamon was in the river and she was regaining consciousness. She realized she must have hit in the water. Her yellow eyes were open and she quickly shot up to the surface. She cough up water as she breathe in air and she was in a water current as she is trying to find away to reach the bank. But the current was to strong as she was heading into a rock. She quickly jump onto the rock and jump into the bank, then she made it to shore until she heard someone cried for help.

"Mervamon! He...glgglglb!" A voice called out in the river. Mervamon look to the river and found a small, pink bunny being drifted in the river. It was Cutemon!

"Damn it!" Mervamon said as she jump into the river and quickly swam in the river to grab Cutemon.

"Help!" He cried. "I can't stay u... glglgb!"

He went under as Mervamon kick in to save Cutemon. "Hold on, Cutemon! I'm coming!"

She cried as she dive into the river, she used her snake arm to grab Cutemon and swam up to the surface. They both reach the surface of the river. Mervamon was having trouble to get back ashore, until someone called out to them.

"Mervamon! Cutemon! Grab on to this!" A voice called out. They saw a yellow like lizard grabbing hold of a long branch.

"Agumon! Your here!" Mervamon said as she grab hold of Cutemon in her snake arm, and she quickly grab the branch in her other arm. Agumon quickly pulled with the branch as Mervamon and Cutemon made it to shore. Mervamon and Cutemon were very tired and worn out with Agumon's help.

"Agumon your here too?" Cutemon said.

"Yeah. I was in the forest instead in the river when I heard your voice I came." Agumon explained. "Now, can you tell me if the others are nearby?"

Mervamon answered him. "No. As far as I can tell, you two are the only ones I meet so far."

Cutemon was a little scared of the river shaking, Mervamon grab Cutemon with one arm to calm him down. "You really scared me Cutemon." She took a deep breath. "Next time don't go swimming in the river."

"Okay. I will." He said.

"Do you have the strength to hold on me?" Mervamon asked Cutemon.

"Yes. I think I can hold on." He said as Mervamon lift Cutemon and put him on her helmet.

"Hold on tight up there, were going to get out of this forest and river." Mervamon said.

"We should move on and find something or someone that could help us." Agumon point out.

"I agree with you, lets go." She nodded as they both jump on rock to rock as they pass through the river.

"I can say that this worse than the time we fell in the Golden Ocean." Mervamon said as they made it to land as they walk by the river bank.

"Where are we?" Cutemon asked looking around the area.

"I don't believe where in the Digital World?" Agumon said to them.

"No. I think not." Mervamon signed.

"I think it had something to do with the Code Crown send us into this world and everyone were all connected to the Code Crown when it flashed, I believe that everyone was sent here to all over the place."

"My parents weren't." Cutemon shed a tear. "Will I see them again?" Cutemon said.

"Your parents are not transported here they should be back at the castle." Agumon confirmed.

"We should worry about ourselves and everyone else." Mervamon said.

"So, what should we do now?" Cutemon asked.

"Well, we should find civilization and search for the others. We should follow the river and find a settlement next to the river." Agumon said.

"That's what my mama told me." Cutemon nodded. "If you get lost, follow the river and it will lead you to a settlement."

"That's right!" Mervamon said. "We have nothing to do, but follow the river. We'll just walk by the forest next to the river for cover."

"It's best we are not seen by strange things attack us in the river." Agumon said.

"Okay." Cutemon nodded. "Your the boss Mervamon!"

"I will follow your lead Mervamon." Agumon said.

Mervamon laugh. "Only we find Shoutmon." She grinned lift her hand and she summoned her big sword, she grip it to be armed and Agumon is ready for anything so he can strike with his claws or his fire breath. And Cutemon remained on Mervamon's head as they walk into the forest.

XXX

"Oh... my head. It's like I got run over by a train?" Deputymon said as he was on the ground, his body ache. His large hat was knock off and was sitting next to him. He pick up his hat up and put it on his head, then he got up from the ground as he look in his surroundings. He is in some kind of forest with lots of trees, then turn to the other direction to see dark clouds over the mountains. Deputymon had no desire going into those mountains, because they are full of dread.

Deputymon heard something behind him, he had wish his lucky stars as he look behind him. It was Sorcermon the White Wizard Digimon and Greymon the big grey dinosaur Digimon.

"I see I'm not alone." Deputymon said as he went to look at them if they are okay. When he look at them they are awake.

"I see your finally up Deputymon." Greymon said with a growl.

"Are you injured?" Sorcermon asked him.

"No. I'm okay." Deputymon shook his head as he rub his back. "Just had a ruff day by falling on something, so I'm fine. What's going on here? What happened back at the castle? And why are you two sitting on the ground instead of looking around the area and find out where we are?" Deputymon asked.

"We are in a strange land." Greymon said.

"We were waiting for you to wake up so we can't protect you both." Sorcermon said.

"Both of us?" Deputymon blinked. "There someone here with us?" Deputymon asked. Greymon moved his arms and tail to reveal another Digimon curled up on the floor. It was Beastmon.

"Oh, it's Beastmon." Deputymon said as he was concern for the Digimon Princess. "She's not hurt is she?"

"Of course not." Greymon chuckled.

"She's fine. She's just asleep like she usually do." Sorcermon said with a smile. Deputymon look at Beastmon as she curled up and wrap herself of her body as she is sleeping.

"Oh boy." Deputymon said as he put his hand on his head. "This is just great. Here we are, stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea where we are or where the others are at, and the Princess is still asleep and snoring."

"I don't snore." Beastmon mumbled. Deputymon was confused if she is awake or she said that in her sleep. Greymon stand up on his legs as he is tall and largest of the four. Greymon went to check the surroundings, but all he can see were trees and the dark mountains.

"Well this is a big mess where in." Deputymon said to himself. "I what to know what happened back at the castle with the Code Crown. It had sent us in this strange world."

"I don't know the reason why it sent us or if it has something to do with the King?" Sorcermon said to them.

"You don't think the Code Crown shattered in pieces again?" Deputymon questioned Sorcermon. "Do you think it split the Digital World into zones again?"

"I don't know." Greymon growled. "But were not about to wait and find answer to that question."

"We should get out of the forest before something finds us." Sorcermon said to them as he is holding his wand to defend himself.

"Good call." Deputymon said as he nodded to the adviser. "Your the King's adviser."

"You should wake the Princess up." Greymon said to Deputymon. "Tell her she can ride on my back if she can sleep more, were going to get moving and search for the others."

"Alright then." Deputymon nodded as he approach Beastmon, he lower and shook her to wake up. She slowly open her eyes as she look up to see Deputymon. She let off a large yawn and bring her clawed hand to her mouth.

"What is it? It's it morning already?" She asked. "Is Shoutmon or Sorcermon giving a speech?"

"They may be." Deputymon shrugged. "But I don't think Sorcermon will be giving a speech right now and Shoutmon is not here."

"We aren't?" Beastmon asked as she lied down again.

Deputymon blinked by looking at her as he tried again. "Don't you remember what happen last night, Princess?"

"Last night?" Beastmon asked with her eyes closed. "I sure do. We were all celebrating the last battle of the Bagra Army remnants and Shoutmon gave us a toast to us all and him and then the last thing I remember was..." Deputymon had to resist the urge from laughing as Beastmon's eyes suddenly open as she look around her as they are in a forest surrounded by trees.

"What?" She asked. "Where are we? Why am I not in my bed? And was I sleeping on the ground?"

"One at a time." Deputymon chuckled. "I have no idea, same as you are and yes, you were."

"It's about time you wake up Princess." Sorcermon said.

"Deputymon, Sorcermon, Greymon." Beastmon said as she look around with fear in her eyes. "Where are the others at? What happened? The last thing I remember was..."

"The Code Crown acting weird?" Deputymon asked. "We remember that too. But we all woke up here."

"We had no idea where the others are?" Greymon said. "Which is why we need to move on, Princess Beastmon. We can't stay here and wait for the others. You can climb up on my back to sleep, but we need to search for the others." Beastmon nodded as she got up and climb on Greymon's back. She look into the dark mountains that had dark clouds and a red glow of fire in the horizon.

"That place reminds me of the Great Demon Palace." She was scared. "Yeah. Sorcermon and Greymon are right, the sooner were away from those mountains the happier I be. That place gives me the creeps."

"I can sense something wrong of that place." Greymon growled as he did not like the look of it.

"I know what you mean." Sorcermon grimly said. "I can sense a great evil in that place, but I hope my brother Wizardmon is not in there and the others too." Sorcermon said to them.

"Were shall we go?" Beastmon asked.

"Anywhere but there." Deputymon said. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." Beastmon smiled. "I might be able to get more sleep up there." Deputymon sign as he was surprised as Beastmon added "And I can spot some of the others from up here."

"Yeah." Deputymon said as he walk next to Sorcermon.

"Come." Sorcermon said. "Let's get moving and find our King and the others" Sorcermon said as he lead them through the trees with Greymon and Deputymon followed with Beastmon riding on Greymon's back. They were walking away from the mountains.

But unknown to them they were being watch by a man in green cloak with a hood to blend in the trees and bushes around him. He was far away to hear their conversation between the four creatures, but he knew they were something he never seen before. As the four of them left he quickly slip into the bushes to report to his superior officer and his fellow Ithilien Rangers.

XXX

Deckerdramon's big red eyes open as he awoken. He sees his two fellow Digimon Lilamon and Stingmon where standing over him. "Deckerdramon your finally awake!" Lilamon cheerfully said.

"It's nice to see you awake my lord." Stingmon said.

"I see you two are here, but where are the others?" Deckerdramon asked.

"Well we kind of fallen out of the sky and landed here, and we don't know where the others are at." Lilamon explain.

"Something tells me that we're not in the Digital World anymore?" Deckerdramon said.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that." Stingmon said as he put his arm around Lilamon.

"What should we do?" Lilamon asked.

"For now, we need to search for the others and I believe there's a river nearby." Deckerdramon said as he look around, they are in some kind of plains and he saw a small river. The three Digimon approach the river. Deckerdramon went into the river and he change his form to Float Mode, which he can stay above water.

"Hop on you two." Deckerdramon said to them. "We should follow the river and if only we find Shoutmon and the others." He said.

"Alright Deckerdramon you shall lead us." Lilamon said as she and her mate got on Deckerdramon's back as they sailed in the river. The three Digimon look around the area in case they see other Digimon were nearby and they had no idea were there path awaits them.

XXX

"Ugh, what hit me in the head?" Chibitortomon groaned as he slowly open his eyes. He was in some kind of small land with some tall grass. Chibitortomon put his hand on his helmet head as he had bruises. "Ow. I really need a very hard helmet. What happened anyway?" He was mostly protected by his hard shell on his chest and back. He was trying to get up as he tried his leg hit something. He got on his feet as he turn what he hit and he is not alone.

Dondokomon was on the floor next to him, he seems to be conscious and Lopmon was next to him on the floor too. Lopmon was close to the bank, if he landed in the water he would have drown. Chibitortomon look around, they were in some kind of large swamp, he can feel some kind of dread in this place just like they were in NeoMyotismon's Vampire Land.

This place was to quiet and there was a chill on his back. He noticed that there are a few bits of fire on the area. The flames out there are doing nothing. Chibitortomon was feeling scared that he want to get out of this evil place. He went to wake Dondokomon by shook him up.

"Hey wake up!" Chibitortomon urged him. "Come on, we gotta get outta here now!" The drum Digimon groaned as he woke up and Chibitortomon help to sit up.

"Aww, my head hurts." Dondokomon groan as he lift his drum arms to beat his head. He wince and yelled. "Ow. That hurt."

"Well don't hit yourself on the head until you recovered." Chibitortomon advised him as he went to check Lopmon.

"Don't hit myself in the head?" Dondokomon asked. "I'm a drum Digimon. If I can't play, what am I?"

"I don't know?" Chibitortomon said.

"Very funny." Dondokomon muter as he put his drum sticks on his head to rub it. "Where are we?"

"I don't know but we gotta get outta here!" Chibitortomon shuddered. "This place is creeping me out. Lopmon. Hey Lopmon wake up. We need to keep moving." He knelt down to shake the brown bunny to wake up.

Lopmon groaned. "Five more minutes." He said. "I don't feel so good."

"Me too but we've got to leave. I don't like this place at all." Chibitortomon said.

"What's with the fire lights?" Dondokomon asked, eyeing one of the flames nearby.

"I don't know all the answer to anything?" Chibitortomon said as he try to wake Lopmon. Chibitortomon jumped when Lopmon open his eyes when he look into the water. He screamed in terror as the two Digimon freak out what's in the water.

"What? What is it?" Dondokomon cried in panic, wondering what caused Lopmon to freak out. "Lopmon what's wrong?" Chibitortomon asked. Lopmon turn to look at him in fear in his eyes, he slowly lift his hand and point in the water. Chibitortomon and Dondokomon both swallowed as they look at the edge of the water. The two of them scream as they saw a dead pale body in the water. It was staring at them with white eyes. The two of them back away to Lopmon, the three of them huddled together, the turtle, the drum, the brown bunny were surrounded by water with bodies and fire lights. This place is very creepy and full of dread as the three Digimon were terrified in their hearts.

XXX

Golemon woke up as he was half buried in the ground with boulders. His body was undamaged by the fall in the sky. He raised his fist and punch the boulders in pieces. Golemon got out and he look at his surroundings as he look at the crater he land on. He look around and he sees that he landed near a mountain with rocky hills and trees with grassland.

Golemon grunted and wonder were the others are at. He wonder what to do next and how he get here. He stepped out of the crater and start walking down from the mountain just to find the others.

XXX

"Hey guys, hold still!" One of the Gaossmon was on a boulder telling all the others to stop moving around. "I'm trying to count if all of us are here." The Gaossmon all woken up a few minutes and they were all running around in the plains they all had landed in confusion and talking to each other trying to see if any of them know what happen and where they are. None of them don't have any answers or ideas of what to do. Now their leader counted them all as he got to the end of counting.

"Sixty five, sixty six, sixty seven, sixty eight, sixty nine, and seventy. I guess that's all of us, now does anyone have any ideas were we are or what to do next?" The Gaossmon leader asked.

"No. We have no idea?" One of the Gaossmon said.

"What happened to the King and the others?" The Gaossmon said in the middle of the group.

"I don't know?" The leader shrug. "I don't have any answers you guys are asking for. But, I guess that we should get moving and see if we can find the others or something. We must stay together alright? We all don't want to get lost."

"No!" They all said to the leader as they all gathered in a large herd.

"Alright!" The Gaossmon leader nodded. "I guess we pick that direction! It's a good start to head out!" He jump off the rock as he is heading south the others followed him too as they stomp on the ground as they go.

XXX

The two Bombmon have found themselves in some kind of cave in the dark. They can see a faint orange glow near by as they went towards it. "Where are we?" One of the Bombmon asked.

"I don't know, but were about to find out." The other Bombmon said as they got closer to the light.

"I hear something." Bombmon 1 said to the other as they hear hammers hit metals and sound of machinery of works. They peak around behind a rock.

What they see is a large caverns that goes upwards to the open sky above. They can see flames in the walls are fueled with woods. They even see ugly creatures were screeching and laughing, while others were at some mud pit in the walls and they peel the mud away to revel tall and powerful creatures that were inside and pulling them up to their feet.

"Uh... that is different." Bombmon 1 said.

"Just what did we got ourselves into?" Bombmon 2 nodded as they watch.

XXX

**I put the Monitamons by number and r and g for red and green in case you're wondering I also made Sorcermon and Wizardmon as bothers because they look the same except their colors and type.**

**Next time Chapter 7: The North.**


	7. Ch 7 The North

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 7 The North**

**The next Chapter is about the other Digimon in the North of Middle ****Earth.**

XXX

When Lunamon woke up as she opened her eyes, everything around her is dark to see. She check if she is in any pain or bruises, she is very fine and very lucky after... after... What happened. The Code Crown had acted strange and then it pointed beams of light at her and everyone. Then she and everyone were teleported in a strange new world. Lunamon look closely and what she sees is in some kind of forest with leaves on them. She look around and she found Lillymon on the ground next to her.

"Lillymon!" Lunamon said as she rush to Lillymon's side. She knelt down and shook her up. "Wake up Lillymon, you need to get up." Lunamon urged Lillymon to wake up. Lillymon begins to wake up as she opened her eyes. She look and saw Lunamon over her.

"Lunamon? What happened?" She asked.

"Lillymon do you remembered what happened back at Shoutmon's Castle?" Lunamon said to her.

"The last thing I remember is that we celebrate our victory against the remnants of the Bagra Army, then we had a feast, then later the Code Crown hit us with beams of light then..." Lillymon then look shock. "It teleported us to a different world!" She asked.

"Yes." Lunamon confirmed. "We are no longer in the Digital World." Lunamon said as they looked around that this forest is shrouded in darkness

"I don't like the look of this place." Lillymon said.

"I see what you mean." Lunamon nodded. "This forest is very creepy and there is some kind of evil here." Lunamon said as she can sense some evil deep in the forest.

They heard rustling above the trees. "Hello?" Lunamon called as Lillymon is going to protect her. "Is someone there?"

A few moments later there were three swift blurs came down from the trees as they all landed on the ground. They were three green Monitamon the elites that had been with Nene before Mikey had met her.

"Lunamon. Lillymon." Monitamon G1 acknowledged them with relief. "At least a friendly face. We been wondering around for some time and wondering were everyone is at."

"We woke up and found ourselves here in this forest." Monitamon G2 said as he continued. "And there was nobody around so we went to look around the area until we found you two here."

"You two are the first we found except trees and darkness." Monitamon G3 said.

Lunamon and Lillymon were both relief they had three Monitamons that could scout around and fight alongside them.

"You haven't seen anyone else?" Lunamon asked.

"Nope. just you two." Monitamon G2 signed as his face displayed a sad face on his screen. "Nobody else. We feared that were the only ones here and everyone is scattered all over this strange world."

"Yeah. Well at least we found somebody now." Monitamon G3 said.

"Yes." Lillymon nodded as she and Lunamon were trying to ignore there worries inside them. "At least the three of you are safe."

"Yes we are." Monitamon G1 nodded. "We woke up and find ourselves lying on top one another. It took this guy to wake up." He pointed at Monitamon G3.

"Hey it's not my fault because you two were on top of me." Monitamon G3 grumbled."

"What of you two?" Monitamon G2 asked. "Are you both injured?"

"No." Lillymon said.

"Were okay. But can you tell us where we are?" Lunamon asked the three Monitamon.

"Sorry we don't know where we are?" Monitamon G1 answered.

"Now we found someone, what are we going to do?" Monitamon G3 asked as he was looking at his surroundings. "I don't know about you guys, this forest is very creepy and we don't know where we are, where everyone is at, or how we got here in this place. What are we going to do?"

Lillymon was not sure what to do and Lunamon was looking at everyone as they don't have any clue or give them a answer. But Lunamon knew one thing that all of there friends are somewhere in this world. All of them were connected to the Code Crown as she, Lillymon, and the three Monitamon were teleported. She knew the others were somewhere around nearby or far away. They had to try and find Shoutmon and the others as quickly as they can. Because in great numbers is for safety and face strange things in this new world full of dangers.

"Um... Okay." Lunamon said. "I don't have a plan but... We should stay together. There is no telling how long it will take to find the others now, Lillymon can fly above to see in the sky to cover ground. Lillymon can carry all four of us."

"Well I don't have a plan?" Monitamon G1 shrugged his shoulders.

"If we had a better plan we used to by now?" Monitamon G2 agreed.

"So, where do we go now?" Lillymon asked.

"Well... we should head north." Lunamon said. "If we keep going that way. We might likely to find someone there."

"Good idea." Monitamon G1 nodded. "Shall we?"

"Might as well." Lillymon said as the Monitamons jump to the trees and swiftly hop on branches. Lillymon took flight along with Lunamon holding on her leg to the direction they are heading. Lunamon hope they could find the end of the forest. It was giving her the creeps.

XXX

When Starmon woke up he found out that his mouth is full of sand and pebbles. He immediately spat out the sand out of his mouth as he stand up and when he look around he sees all the Pickmons scattered all over the ground. Some have woken up and push themselves up, then others were starting to wake up. Starmon then heard a flowing water behind him. He turn around and saw that what happened to them landed near a river. He jump in then he suck the water and spit out the water to clean out the sand that got in him.

But he realized that jumping in the river was a bad idea, because the river's current was strong that is curry him away. The Pickmons were trying to reach him, but they can't do anything to reach him. But before he was about to be swept away and to be drown, a large sword was plunged into the river in front of him, causing him to collide with the flat of the blade and for him to hang on. He look up to who saved him it was a big tall armored Digimon called Knightmon and next to him was a Wizard name Wizardmon.

Knightmon lift his sword up and put Starmon to the ground. "You know." Knightmon said. "I believe that look before you leap and look into it, next time try sucking water from the edge."

Starmon chuckled as he push himself up. "Sorry brother. But at least you were here to save me."

"Not to worry Starmon." Wizardmon said. "You need to stay sharp before you jump into things that will only put you endanger."

"Well yes, but I might not be around next time to save you." Knightmon pointed out. "As you can see Starmon not all of us are here."

Starmon look as he can see that only Knightmon, ten Pawnchessmons, Wizardmon, and his fifty one Pickmons were the only ones alone. "Where are our brothers and sisters?" Starmon asked. "Where are Shoutmon, Ballistamon, Dorulumon and the others?"

"I'm afraid I do not know?" Knightmon sign. "I don't even know where we are or how we got here?"

"But I can tell you that we are no longer in the Digital World." Wizardmon confirmed. Starmon was scared as he went to check the Pickmons. The Pickmons were mostly silver, some were white, and there is one that is red that is a little daze.

"Is everyone okay?" Starmon asked. "Is all my squad counted for?"

One of the Pickmons hop up to Starmon. "We started counting while you were out, we starting counting that all of us are here or we might had miss someone." Pickmons said.

"Will that counts for something?" Starmon said.

"Don't worry, I already counted for you, there were supposed to be fifty one of you, forty silver, ten white, and one red." Knightmon said.

"Don't worry all of your troops are here." Wizardmon assured him.

"That's great." Starmon was glad. "But what are we going to do now?"

"Well, if we go and follow the river, we might find someone that could help us or we might find a city." Knightmon said.

"We don't have many options." Wizardmon said. "But there is a chance we will run into the others that are somewhere in this world."

"I believe that the others will find us." One of the Pawnchessmons said as they push up their visors up to reveal their yellow eyes as they help pull the Pickmons on their feet. "What should we do Lord Knightmon and Lord Wizardmon?"

"Yeah with our brothers and sisters scatter around in this strange world. We can't stay here." Starmon said to them.

"No, we cannot stay." Knightmon agreed.

"There is only one thing to do we could search and find our comrades." Wizardmon said as he and Knightmon armed themselves with their wand and sword.

"We must move on for I fear the safety for the others and I will soon find Princess Beastmon, as I was sworn to protect her as her bodyguard." Knightmon was determine.

"If we cannot find the Princess?" One of the Pawnchessmons asked. "What do we do then?"

"We keep looking." Knightmon said. "I swore my oath to protect her, as all of you Pawnchessmons. And if only I have proof that is she is dead then we will continued to try and fulfill that vow and return to our posts by her side. And we must find the other members of the Fusion Fighters United Army as well. The sooner were all united the sooner were happy."

"I am worried about Gatomon and my brother." Wizardmon said. "I know they can handle themselves and my brother is the adviser of the King, makes him second in command."

"Don't worry." Knightmon assured him. "I know your friend and brother will be fine. They will try to find us and the others too, we should look and find them."

"Don't worry too much brothers." Starmon hop to Knightmon and Wizardmon on either side. "I'm sure that Beastmon, Gatomon, Sorcermon, are with the others now."

"I can only hope." Knightmon nodded grimly. He was devoted to Princess Beastmon as any knight should be very loyal too, and it was his duty to protect her. Beastmon is not much of a fighter. The only time she had fight against was a giant mouse Digimon.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Starmon bounded into the air. "Let's go brothers."

"YAY!" The Pickmons cheered as they followed Starmon up river.

Knightmon and Wizardmon both chuckled after a moment and they followed, the Pawnchessmons followed behind them and armed with their lances to face any dangers nearby. Knightmon and Wizardmon both kept a sharp eye out still armed with their sword and wand.

XXX

"Go ahead. I dare you. Run up and poke them."

"You run up and poke them! Why should I be the one who runs up and poke them?"

"Because I was the one who dared you first, if you don't do it that means you're a wimp."

"Well so what if I am? I don't even know what those are. They could be dangerous."

"So you're saying you are a wimp. Look at them. They're dead. You saw them all out of the sky, there's no way that they can still be alive."

"How do you know they are dead? One of them doesn't look like a living thing, it's made of metal."

"Well then you really are a wimp."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

Sparrowmon and Biyomon both starting to open their eyes as they hear the sounds coming next to them. They had no idea what the conversation was about, but it was coming right next to them so they know they were talking about them. And they thought they were dead. The voices they heard were not threatening. They both took a moment to realize they never or know of Digimon, only thing that a Digimon that dies their bodies dispersed into data.

"I am not getting any closer to them." One of the voices said. "Why haven't we gone and get the grownups anyway? They should know if strange things fallen into our country instead of us staring at them."

"They won't know anything about them." The other voice scoff. "If you are not going to do anything then I will."

Sparrowmon tensed as something is poking on her neck. It was not sharp so she remain still. Biyomon can feel something is poking on her head. It didn't hurt, but she remain still, as the both of them did not give away.

But then the voice laughed and said. "See I told you they are dead. There's nothing to worry about." And then Sparrowmon felt pain on her face that is poking right near her eye. Her eyes quickly open up and star at the person standing next to her. Biyomon also open her eyes too when she saw a person and Sparrowmon next to her. The person back away with a cry of fear. It looks like a human. But... at the time it is not. It was very short than Nene and the others, even Ewan. It's ears were pointed, its hair was curly than any human they had seen and it wasn't wearing any shoes, it just had bare feet with a lot of hair on the top.

"Ah! It's awake!" The first one cried. "Quick! Get the adults!"

"I told you so." Yelled the other one that they were children and they both run down hill.

Sparrowmon blinked as she and Biyomon watch them flee. "Will that was interesting." Sparrowmon said as she turn and see Biyomon next to her. "Biyomon! Your here!"

"Yeah, I'm here, but where are the others?" Biyomon asked.

"I'm not sure where they are or where are we at?" Sparrowmon said. "But we will find them."

Both Sparrowmon hover above the ground and Biyomon stand up as they are on top of the hill they land on. Sparrowmon is one of the fastest flyers and best scout of the Fusion Fighters. She flown all over the Digital World when Shoutmon became King to make sure the world was peaceful and there was no signs of trouble. Biyomon is one of the fighters capable to defend herself and she used her wings to fly in the sky. They can see is full of rolling green hills that stretched into a distance, with green grass with meadow fields. What they see are houses built in the hills with round doors, some with fences that had flowers and gardens. They can see roads ran between the hills and gates near the houses and not far away was a town square with markets being sold goods. Sparrowmon and Biyomon can see people too, few of them moving about in the crops and tending them. Moving wagons along the roads filled with vegetables and pastry. They even tending to animals. The only thing that none of them were taller than three feet and a half feet. Even the older ones. What they can see was a very peaceful place. They know that they can't see none of their friends nearby.

"It seems were no longer in the Digital World." Sparrowmon said.

"I can see that, but I hope the others are alright." Biyomon said to her as they both heard sounds of commotion coming near the hill.

The two tiny children were hurrying back and pointing up at them and behind them were a small group of adults that were not as tall as the humans they see. And they were armed. The only thing they had for weapons were farm equipment but still they were wielding them is they were hostile. And they can see the fear in their faces as they approached slowly towards them, holding their weapons in front of them only to defend themselves. They clearly had no idea what to do in this situation, since this is their home and the two Digimon were the intruders, they willing to defend it.

"Now... look here you two!" One of them nervously said as he move forward by the rest of the group. "Get out of here. You'll both will not be calming any of our lives today, you hear? You both won't be devouring any of us if we have anything to say about it!"

"Devouring?" Sparrowmon blinked.

"Calming your lives?" Biyomon said it caused the people to hesitate as they did not expect them to speak.

"You think were going to eat you? Do we look like we prey on the innocent? What kind of monsters do you think we are?" Sparrowmon said to the crowd.

"I... I... er..." The speaker wasn't sure what to say as the short people look at each other in confusion. But he turned back around and said "Well how do we know that we can trust you both? It's been a long time since anything came here to threaten us, could be trying to lure us into a trap just to let our guard down."

Both Digimon rolled their eyes, knowing they had no time to argue with this guy. "Believe whatever you what." Biyomon said.

"Just tell me, have you seen any other strange creatures recently? Like a red lizard, orange wolf, or big blue robot?" Sparrowmon asked.

"Robot? What is a robot?" One of the people was confused.

"Never mind." Sparrowmon signed. "Have you seen anything strange or out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing but you two." The first speaker said as he is holding his rake to defend himself.

"Fine." Sparrowmon shrugged. "Then I guess there's no point for us to stay here. We need to go and find our friends so we will let you be."

"What? Really?" The speaker asked.

"Yep." Sparrowmon grinned as she turn to Biyomon. "See ya! Let's go Biyomon!"

"I'm right behind you Sparrowmon!" Biyomon said as she took flight with her wings into the air and Sparrowmon shot forward without warning, when she took flight with her jets when the two of them reducing themselves to a small yellow and pink dot in the sky searching for the others.

XXX

Not only Sparrowmon and Biyomon are the only bird type Digimon that woken up. MailBirdramon the blue armor bird Digimon woke up and found himself on a mountain, with his eagle eyes he can see several large mountains around him. He can see snow fall on the mountains that are covered. The last thing he remember was the Code Crown had been acting strange and then he found himself on a mountain. Not only that, but appeared to be a large mist around the area, MailBirdramon couldn't see very clearly how big and wide the mountain range was. MailBirdramon grunted and wonder where was he at. He knows those mountains don't look familiar.

"How did I get here?" MailBirdramon murmured as he tried to get up to his feet, but he was having trouble to move. He turn his head to look behind him.

"Oh, great." He growled. He was covered in snow on his hull body. He was near the ledge of the mountain, he can see that part of the snow on the mountain fell off. He my have realized he must have fallen out of the sky and caused a avalanche that he had made. So he had only one option is to get out of the piles of snow and he opened his metal beak and roared.

"**PLASMA CANNON!"** He just unleashed a large bolt of yellow energy out of his mouth at the snow and he have caused boulders and snow to fall off. He was free as he quickly took flight to the sky. He had no idea where he is at.

"This day just keeps getting better than this?" He grumbled to himself. "If this is one of Sparrowmon's pranks, I am going to kill her." He raised his voice and called out. "Sparrowmon! If your out there then get out here and show yourself! This is not a joke!"

There was no answer and there was no sign of Sparrowmon. MailBirdramon's voice echo the distance around the peaks. He is going to find out what happened and how he got here. MailBirdramon took flight with his engines on his wings, as he fly into the sky.

"Now to search the others." He said as he dived lower and fly his way through the mountain peaks at high speed.

XXX

Dracomon woke up and find himself cover in snow as he shivered. He can see it was snowing around him, he may be a dragon Digimon but he was not immune to the cold as it got up on his feet, he wipe the snow off on him.

"I hate the cold." Dracomon complained as he stand there for a moment. He look up as he gasped. The area around him is rocky mountains covered in snow, he realized he is in a mountain region. It looks like the Dragon Land except that it didn't have snow.

"What is this place?" He said to himself as he sees the landscape. He look around and wonder were the others are at. He can see no one here as he worry for the others and himself. It was true he got stronger when he joined Shoutmon's army so he can defend himself against enemies, but he can't face to many enemies. He hoped the others were okay, that the others weren't buried in the snow around him. It was foolish as he has no idea where is he at or were the others are. Dracomon called out.

"Shoutmon! Shoutmon, are you there? Somebody? Anybody? Greymon? Deckerdramon? Anyone at all?"

He waited for the echoes to die down but there was no answer. Dracomon wrapped himself with his arms and tail from the cold and being alone. Until he heard a snarling noise behind him. Dracomon whirled around as he thought that some wild Digimon was disturb by his shouting and is going to attack him. He sees a large winged figure coming down from the sky above him, dropping towards him as it approached. Just before Dracomon was about to run, he can make out who it is as he was relief on his face.

"Cyberdramon! It's you!" He said. Cyberdramon landed on the ground with his four wings armed with his double bladed spear. He look down at Dracomon, his face was blank.

"I'm glad to see you." Dracomon grinned at the big dragon. "Are you all right?"

Cyberdramon did not say nothing, he is the silent type. "Do you know where we are? The Code Crown flashed and then it transported us in the middle of a snowy mountains. Do you know where we are and what is going on?" Dracomon asked. Cyberdramon did not say anything, but he shook his head no that gave Dracomon his answer.

Dracomon signed. "That's what I thought." He turned to look at the landscape. "But, where are we anyway? I know the Code Crown has transported us here. But I have no idea where we are?"

He turn back to Cyberdramon and said. "You've traveled around the Digital World than I did. Do you know this place."

Cyberdramon shook his head. Dracomon begins to worry as he asked. "What about the others? They must have been transported by the Code Crown. Have you seen any of the others?" Cyberdramon shook his head again.

"Well than." Dracomon was beginning to fret now. "Where can they be? How long have you been awake?" Cyberdramon said nothing as he stared at Dracomon. He lift his spear and pounded on the ground just once. Dracomon had known that action just met.

"One?" Dracomon guessed. "One... hour?" Cyberdramon nodded. "And you haven't seen any of our friends since then?" Dracomon gasped.

Cyberdramon shook his head. Dracomon now knows that Cyberdramon was telling the truth. He may not speak like the other Digimon except call out his attacks names and he makes growling noise. Dracomon looked down at his feet as he push himself up to his feet.

"Well then..." Dracomon said. "What do we do now? Do we just go on and look for the others?" Cyberdramon's response was that he bend down on one knee and reach down with his armored claw hand and next to Dracomon.

Dracomon hesitated for a moment as he stepped on Cyberdramon's hand and Cyberdramon place him on his shoulder. Dracomon griped on his shoulder to hold on. But then they heard a roar in the air. It startled Dracomon as he nearly lost his grip on Cyberdramon's shoulder. He manage to find his balance as he grab onto Cyberdramon's shoulder. Cyberdramon lashing down his spear in two hands and his legs spread apart into combat, ready to face a enemy that made the roar.

The two Digimon stay put as they listen the sound of the wind. They hear another sound. A low and slow thrumming sound as it approaches as it got closer and more louder. The sound of it cased both of them to look up in the sky as the sound it makes was wing beats. That is when they saw it. It was enormous as it round the corner of the mountain. They were standing at the base of it and in front of them as it flown it self in the sky.

Dracomon's jaw dropped, for the shape was big and reptilian, with four legs and its body was covered with scales that shine in the sunlight, two enormous wings on it's back shoulders, a long tail and long neck which its head was pointed and reptilian. There was no mistake what it was, it was a dragon.

Just like Dracomon and Cyberdramon... but its also not a Digimon. "Do you sense it too?" Dracomon whispered as the dragon pass by not noticing them.

"That dragon it's not a Digimon is it?" Cyberdramon say something with a growl with a single word. "No." Dracomon my have realized that a dragon was not a Digimon, right there in front of them and flying away. He wonder where are they at?

XXX

Somewhere in the forest Beelzemon regained consciousness himself as he could see light streaming in through his three eyelids before he had even opened his eyes. When he did, he was blinded by light as he cover himself with his wings over his face. He lay there on his back for several moments with his wings folded over his eyes. He try to remember what happened like all the Digimon who woke up in this world. The Code Crown acted up and then here he was. But the others... were they alright? Shoutmon? Lunamon? Mervamon? As his eyes adjusted and folded his wings slowly and sat up.

When he look around he can see trees all around him. He is in some kind of woodland and an enormous amount of sunlight shining down on him. But the leaves on the trees were golden color instead of green. And not just orange color of autumn, they were completely gold. The trees stood tall and their thick trunks are smooth and round as pillars. Their trunks are silver and grey bark color.

Beelzemon had to admit that this place is beautiful. The ground was covered in a thin layer of golden leaves and Beelzemon could see more leaves falling now and several new leaves sprouting. But there was more gold sprouting the branches as there were hundreds of flowers blooming in each trees which were richer gold than the leaves. Beelzemon can tell this forest is truly a magical place. Beelzemon stared around the scenery about a minute and it was a wonder of this place. But he remember some of his problems and he must search for the other members of his team.

It did not take long to learn that most of the Fusion Fighters United Army was not there, there was no sign of Shoutmon or Mervamon or any of the others... except for two members of the group. It was Wisemon and Taomon. Wisemon was lying on his stomach right next to Beelzemon and Taomon was lying on her back next to Wisemon, they have not regained consciousness yet. Beelzemon reached over to grab Wisemon's and Taomon's shoulders and shake them to wake up.

"Hey guys, wake up. Are you two alright?" Wisemon moaned and rolled over.

"Not now, mommy I'm about to win the game." He mumbled.

Taomon groan as she put her long sleeve hand on her head. "Uh... My head, what happened?" Taomon woke up.

Beelzemon stare at Wisemon with a complete blank for five seconds, he raised his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat loudly. Wisemon's yellow eyes opened up in the blackness of his face underneath his cream color hood.

"Hmm?" He asked. "What? What was that? What's going on?"

Taomon turn to Beelzemon and Wisemon. "What did Wisemon said to you Beelzemon?" She asked.

"He seemed to think that he is playing some kind of game." Beelzemon said to Taomon. "And he also seemed to think I was his mother." Taomon chuckled a little by holding back her laugh.

"What?" Wisemon blinked. "I did not! But yeah it was a good game. I nearly beat it."

"Were not going to ask." Beelzemon mumbled as he got up on his feet and stretched his big black wings out behind him. "Regardless, something is going on. Get up and take a look around and tell me that you know what's happening because Taomon and I don't."

"Huh?" Wisemon frowned as he sat up, his eyes widened when he got a look of his surroundings. "Oh, my goodness!" He said where he was sitting. "How... remarkably fascinating. Everything's so golden. Remarkable and beautiful. I've never seen anything like it."

"I would say the same." Taomon said as she saw the beauty of this forest. "The golden leaves on the trees give out light of the sun. It is quite a wonder, back in the Digital World I never seen trees like these before."

"Neither have I." Beelzemon nodded. "I traveled far and wide while working as a reaper for the Bagra Army, but this is something I not familiar. These trees are strange."

"And yet amazing." Wisemon nodded, picking up one of the fallen leaves in his claw hand and bring it close to his face examining it closely. As he examining it he got on his feet and wonder to one of the trees to place his other hand on it and examine it too. Beelzemon and Taomon both watched him, seeing that Wisemon's curiosity was getting the better of him but also knowing that they were lucky to have landed with Wisemon. Because if anyone could figure out what had happened to them it would be Wisemon. The seeker of knowledge continued to examine both the tree and leaf for several seconds, then he turned around and said.

"Base on my initial analysis of both the leaf and the tree itself and comparing it from what I know of the Digital World from my observations and from the vast information in the castle's library... I can tell that these trees are not of any kind that grows in the Digital World."

Both Beelzemon and Taomon froze and their eyes widened. "Are you certain?" He choke out.

"Are you saying that these trees are not of our world?" Taomon gasped.

"Very certain." Wisemon nodded. "I do not forget things once I have learn them."

"But... is there no possibility that this is a hidden and unrecorded forest?" Beelzemon questioned, hoping for an answer to all of these that would reveal.

"It is a possibility, but it is highly unlikely." Wisemon shook his head. "I believe that whatever forest we have landed in, it is not from the Digital World. And the last thing that I can recall before we landed here was the Code Crown displaying a strange behavior that it gathered power to prepare to unleashed it. Then it connected a beams of light to each of us to lock onto our digital signature and began to transmit that energy through us at high power and then we woke up here."

Beelzemon and Taomon both did not think they needed Wisemon to explain further, but they may have known what Wisemon was saying to them, Taomon said. "That means?"

"It means that it is likely that the Code Crown has transported us to a completely new world." Wisemon nodded gravely. "It is possible that this is the Human World, as I never did get the opportunity to study it before we all departed back to our world. But I may believe this world my be a different universe and I think this is one of them."

Beelzemon's and Taomon's fears were confirmed and Beelzemon gritted his teeth. "I see..." He said.

"So we are no longer in the Digital World?" Taomon gasped, the two of them looking out at the forest around them once again but their thoughts going in their heads. Was it possible that this was a universe that was neither the Digital World or the Human World?

"Why the Code Crown would choose to send us here in the first place, I do not know?" Wisemon signed. "But I am sure that it must have its reasons."

"I think I might have a slight idea," Beelzemon thought to himself. The Code Crown had began to acting up almost as soon as Shoutmon had confessed that he was beginning to think he did not deserve as a King of the Digital World. He could not think of any other explanation as to why they were sent here. And the Code Crown did have some control over the dimensions, it had been able to summon all the Digimon of the Digital World into the Human World to fuse into Shoutmon X7F Superior Mode after all. Was it possible that this was all just one big test for Shoutmon? He doubted that was the only reason the Code Crown would have sent them here. The Code Crown always had a higher reason for things and if it had wanted to test Shoutmon alone then it would have sent Shoutmon. Yet it had connected to all of them... which meant that it is likely that all of them were all somewhere in this world. He had to find them, that was his duty. He was the Army's guardian, which meant that he has to get moving now. Because if the Code Crown had decided to act like this... it probably meant that this world is in trouble that may caused something to call out for help in some way. And the Code Crown would have responded by sending them.

"We can worry about where we are later." Beelzemon spread his wings. "Right now, all that matters is that we find the others and quickly. You two up for a little flying?"

"I am willing to take off and find the others." Taomon said as she nodded.

Wisemon nodded to. "You are right, of course. I..." He stop and frowned as his senses told him that something was up.

Beelzemon and Taomon both felt it too, and the three of them suddenly looked around, now they are more wary and alert. Then, out of nowhere, humanoid forms began to loom out from around the trees and rising out of the bushes and emerging from places where it didn't seem possible for their size to conceal themselves. Beelzemon, Taomon, and Wisemon were surrounded by humanoid figures and each one of them had an arrow attached to a bowstring and draw back ready to fire. Beelzemon, Taomon, and Wisemon responded as they prepared themselves, Beelzemon's cannon crackling with power as he raised it warning them, next Taomon had her talisman cards in her long sleeves hidden in her hands, and Wisemon raised his hands with metal rings swirling around them. It appeared to be a stand off straight away, as neither side dared to move for several moments as they waited to make the first move.

But then, one of the humanoids stepped forward and out of the main group, arrow still stretched on his bowstring of his longbow. He had angled face, long blond hair that fell far past his shoulders and ears that had pointed tips for some reason. "You are trespassing on the Golden Woods of Lothlorien." The humanoid announced. "I ask that you state who you are and what you are and what is your business is here."

Beelzemon could see that things could get out of hand here very quickly if something was not done so he slowly and lower his cannon and dialed down the power to stop it from firing. "You must excuse us. We did not intend to trespass anywhere, but we are currently lost in this world. We are just trying to find some friends of ours."

"Friends?" The humanoid said with a raised brow. "Is that so? And what friends might they could be? More strange creatures such as yourselves? I have lived in this world for two thousand years and never seen or heard of creatures like you three."

"They look like they could be minions of Sauron." Another of the humanoids said from nearby. "Impossible. Minions of Sauron this deep in the Golden Wood?" Another one murmured. "That should be impossible." "But we never seen anything like these before." Another one pointed out. "They could be more of Saruman's twisted creations that could have the power to breach the defenses around the forest's perimeter. Who knows what they are capable of?"

"Look." Beelzemon folded his wings over his back. "I am afraid that I do not know of this Sauron you speak of, but you are right, we are not from around here. I am Beelzemon and these are my friends Taomon and Wisemon. We only seek to locate our missing comrades, find out where we are and find away of getting back home. If you do not wish for us to be in your woods then you can always direct us to the nearest edge and we will be on our way."

The lead figure looked suspicious and glanced at his drawn arrow, as if wondering whether he should lower it or fire it. It was quite clear that he was still suspicious of these strange creatures, so Beelzemon was about to say more words to prevent a conflict. Before they do anything a female voice called out.

"Lord Haldir." As a female humanoid appeared in the circle, she has long brown hair that fell on her back as a braid and she is armed with a sword and bow. She was wearing red clothing. "Hold your fire, my lord. I have a message from the Lady Galadriel."

The leader named Haldir glanced across at the newcomer. "Lady Idrial? What is the message from the Lady of Light." He nodded, but did not lower his bow.

"The Lady wishes to see these three to be escorted to Caras Galadhon." Idrial started quickly. "She says that she sensed their entry to the forest and also that they have no ill intent towards any of us. She wishes to speak with them as soon as possible."

Haldir frowned at her and turned back to stare at the three Digimon, still with the air of suspicion, but after a moment he nodded and the other humanoids around them slowly relaxed and lowered their weapons. They understand Lady Galadriel's word carried a lot of weight. Beelzemon, Taomon, and Wisemon all glanced at each other, three of them wondering the same thing, that this Lady could shed a little more information to them in their current situation. Haldir put his arrow back in his quiver and his bow on his back, nodded to the three Digimon and saying.

"You must come with us, now."

XXX

Spadamon grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, using his short sword to push himself to his feet. The small Digimon had woken up a couple of minutes ago and had been checking himself for any injuries which he appeared to have none, before he got right up and took a look around him. He did not like what he saw. It gave him the shivers as he looked around. He could barely see anything around him, due to the fact that the area was covered in dense fog that covered the whole area to see. Spadamon could barely see thirty yards in front of him and he was about to move, he heard someone nearby. He turned and saw that he is not alone. He can see Coronamon and Ignitemon were both conscious. Spadamon was glad he is not alone as he walk up to his two friends, he put his hand on their shoulders to wake up.

"Hey guys wake up." He said to them.

Coronamon was the first to wake up. "Ugh... My head... It really hurts." Coronamon groan in pain.

Ignitemon was the next to wake up. "I have some kinda ruff landing." Ignitemon grunted as he got up.

"Coronamon, Ignitemon you guys alright?" Spadamon asked them.

"I'm okay, just a splitting headache." Coronamon said.

"I'm okay too, just a little bruised from a fall." Ignitemon said as he help pull up Coronamon on his feet.

"The question is where are we?" Coronamon asked.

"I do not know where we are, but this place is giving me the creeps." Spadamon said as he was afraid of this place.

"Where are the others?" Coronamon asked. "If we landed here would the others be nearby or faraway?"

""I know my big sister and brother in law can handle themselves in a fight." Ignitemon said. "I know most of the others would be fine, but we should worry about ourselves."

He said as they all turn to the fog around them, they can see dark hills around the place. They can all feel the dread of this place and they can feel something is watching them. They turned to their surroundings as they can't see nothing out there. This place is creeping them out. It was a disturbing feeling, and the three Digimon were feeling the urge to get out of this place as quickly as they can. But they had no idea where to go.

"We should get outta here." Coronamon said with a shaky voice.

"I agree with you Coronamon." Spadamon said as he can feel the chill on his back.

"We should find the others and get out of this place." Ignitemon said as they hear a rattling breathing noise coming from behind them as well as the rustling leaves that sounded like a whisper in the fog. The three Digimon did not paused to look. They were hurrying in the other direction, trying to escape whatever is out there. And behind them, there still appeared to be nothing but fog... But a slow and slithering noise continued, as if whatever was causing it was in no hurry to track down its prey.

XXX

And in the Middle of a island surrounded by water Jijimon found himself on the island shore, when he landed in the water as he drift to shore. He coughed up the water and breathing heavily. The elderly Digimon was not the best swimmers, but he still had his staff to hold on as he look around the island it was full of trees and rocks around him. He was surrounded by water that he can't swim.

"Oh dear." He groaned. "In all my long years... I think that getting lost in a island surrounded by the sea." He raised his voice. "Hello! Are there any Digimon out in the island or at sea to help a old man in need?" Sadly there is no reply, and all Jijimon could do was search the island or wait for someone to find him.

XXX

**I bring Idrial servant of Galadriel in Lorien. I put Jijimon in a island than out drifting in the sea. I will put more characters from The Lord of The Rings in like from the movie, book, game, or mod.**

**Next time Chapter 8 The Breaking of The Fellowship.**


	8. Ch 8 The Breaking of the Fellowship

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 8 Breaking of The Fellowship**

**This will be about the Fellowship and the three Digimon in this next chapter. **

XXX

Cutemon had fallen asleep quite a while ago, still dripping from the river on top of Mervamon's head as he lay on her snake skull like helmet. He was snoring every time that he breathed out were becoming a strangely calming noise filtering into Mervamon's ear as she and Agumon continued to follow the river.

Mervamon and Agumon were both very tired, not having any sleep since before the celebration had occurred, and a brief period of unconsciousness before being dropped in a strange land.

The landscape around them had now changed and Mervamon was actually glad that they had landed in the river than there. Cutemon had nearly drowned but at least they were able to get out of the river with Agumon's help. She was now walking with Agumon next to her alongside the edge of an enormous cliff which was actually one side of the jagged ravine and the river itself was now at the bottom of that ravine. Whenever Mervamon looked down she could see no banks for the river at all, it just flowed between the towering cliff walls and turned the ravine into a channel as it continued south.

From up on the height of the cliff, Mervamon and Agumon both paused to look around. Looking at the sun, they would say that it was now after midday. Mervamon didn't know hoe long they had been going for but it had been a while and she and Agumon hadn't seen any signs of life other than small birds, trees and a squirrel. She and Agumon look up at the skies for any sign of Sparrowmon, MailBirdramon, Biyomon or her beloved Beelzemon.

But so far nothing.

This was not the best place to be in. Mervamon and Agumon didn't want to risk trying to get some sleep until they could find a place to take shelter and a place to hide, since they had no idea what kind of things might live in this area that could be a threat to them and attack them while sleeping. And they both had a responsibility to make sure Cutemon was kept safe, especially Dorulumon was not here to do the job himself when he looks after Cutemon.

Agumon then saw something up ahead. "Hey, what is that over there?" Agumon pointed what is in front of them.

Mervamon look down, she look at what Agumon is pointing at the river below in the ravine. She sees what Agumon was seeing so they both step away from the side of the cliff and hide behind the trees. Mervamon hissed to Cutemon. "Cutemon! Cutemon, wake up!"

"Huh?" Cutemon mumbled blearily as he opened his eyes. "Did we find Shoutmon yet?"

"No, not yet." Mervamon replied. "But take a look down there." "It seems we might have finally found a few locals." Agumon said. Cutemon yawned and sat up as Mervamon and Agumon stepped closer to the edge again. He look what they are seeing, his eyes then lit up when he saw what Mervamon and Agumon were seeing. Three small boats that were swiftly making their way down the course of the river and staying as far away from the canyon walls as possible. Cutemon could not make out the figures sitting in the boats but they were too far away to make out what they were.

"Hey, maybe they can tell us where we are and how to get back to the castle." Cutemon cheered, hopping to his feet on Mervamon's head. "Shall we call down to them?"

"No." Mervamon shook her head. "Let's just try to follow them for now and see if the terrain flattens out a little. Holding a conversation up here would not be good and I want to see who we're dealing with properly before we try anything. Hold on, were going to try and pace up with them."

"We will get more information if we see they are willing to tell us where we are."Agumon said.

"Okay." Cutemon nodded as he gripped on Mervamon's helmet tighten as Mervamon and Agumon both hurried along, as close to the top of the cliff as they dared stepping closer to the edge to make sure that they were still there popping back. The last thing they wanted was for one of them to spot them right now, they might think they are enemies. They were better to just stay hidden for now until they could get closer.

XXX

The passengers of the boats in the ravine were, the eight members of the Fellowship, were now on their third day of traveling down the river by boat to get closer to their destination to Mordor. The atmosphere was now quiet, sour and a little tense, especially after some of the things that happened last night. Frodo was quieter than ever before having very little sleep and unnerved by the argument that Boromir and Aragorn had last night. Boromir himself was feeling rather sour and bitter at Aragorn for ignoring his suggestions and advice and Aragorn's mind was dwelling on Boromir's words about his fear to take over the was similarly deep in thought, but that was due to the strange disturbance in the world that he had sensed last night. He knew that things were beginning to be set in motion which would affect everything but he still had no idea what will happen. Would it help them or to Sauron? Would it make their quest easier or harder? Who can say?

There was a point where he thought he spotted something, two figures at the top of the ravine and one of them is tall and the other is short, but when he looked he couldn't see anything. He put it down in his mind as having seen a strange trees and mistaken for a person. But the Elf was still wary and alert.

But the something happened which help took their minds off all their thoughts. As the first boat where Aragorn, Frodo and Sam were sitting began to round a corner, Aragorn's eyes filled with wondrous joy and amazement and he quickly reached forward to tapped Frodo on the shoulder, uttering Frodo to get his attention. Frodo had to resist the urge to flinch but his attention was brought upwards and when he saw Aragorn was seeing he could feel his own eyes slowly widening.

"The Argonath." Aragorn breathed with satisfaction.

As they all rounded the corner they all saw it. The ravine was coming to an end with two walls drawing closer together to make a gap that resemble some kind of gate and standing on the side of it were two giant statues of stones that rose out of the ground like giant pillars. They were huge, taller even than the steep canton wall and they were amazingly carved. Just one of their boats was about the size of the little toe of one of the enormous statues.

The statues themselves were of a pair of men, dressed in long robes of stone, giant crowns adoring the tops of their heads. The one on the right has a beard and was clutching the hilt of an enormous sword to his chest while the other, who was clean shaven had his hand placed on the side of the ravine itself, while both had their left hands outstretched before them, palms outwards and sending a message to anyone to turn back now. For this was the Argonath, the gateway that marked the northern border of Gondor to anyone who might be traveling down river.

There was no doubt that these were men of royalty, even without the crowns giving the fact away. And they were meant to signify that Gondor was a country of great strength and might, and that anyone seeking to harm its realm would regret it very quickly.

"Long have I desired to look upon the Kings of old." Aragorn murmured in wonder. "My kin."

Frodo was enthralled by those enormous statues, larger than any Man made structure he had ever seen before. He felt reassured under their gaze, as if they were telling him that everything was going to be alright. Who knows, perhaps passing into Gondor would be the right time to carry the advice that Galadriel had given him.

He was not the only one enthralled either. Everyone else stared at the statues in amazement as they passed closer to their enormous feet. Even Boromir, Who is the Prince of Gondor, had never been here before and could barely keep a look of astonishment off his face. Merry and Pippin were making no attempts to hide their awe and neither was Sam. Legolas, who normally had little appreciation of such things was also finding his eyes drawn to the statues as he paddled the river with paddle in hand. And Gimli... he was thinking that the Dwarves could have done a better job but he had to admit that for the work of Men this was pretty good. The three boats rowed on through the enormous feet and out of the ravine to the enormous lake beyond, the gigantic stone Men filling their entire world as they sailed through the calm waters in between them. They were almost sad that they had to leave the statues behind, but they rowed on regardless, occasionally glancing backwards to stare at their still visible giant forms as they moved out into the lake. At the other side they could see that the lake dropped over the side of a cliff on either side of one immense boulder.

They had finally reached the falls of Rauros, which would be their final stop on the river before they carried on with their feet. And since none of them had any desire to go over the edge of the falls they made their way over towards the western shore of the lake towards a bank close to the falls but not to close to be pulled in by the current.

XXX

As they moved out across the lake, they were completely unaware of the three beings who were still at the other end, also starting at the enormous statues in absolute amazement.

"This is... awesome." Cutemon awed. "They're so big and massive. Who do you two think built those things?"

"I have no idea." Mervamon breathed. "But I have to admit... that is very impressive. The amount of time and effort it must have taken to do something like that... it's astonishing."

"Yes. I see what you mean." Agumon said in awed. "But we never seen statues that big in the Digital World."

"Yeah. Shoutmon should do something like that." Cutemon chuckled. "We should make him build a giant statue of himself outside the castle."

"That is a very good idea Cutemon." Agumon chuckled.

"Maybe." Mervamon chuckled. "But I do notice one thing. Both of those statues are humans and not Digimon."

"Yeah, they are." Cutemon's eyes widened. "Does that mean that we're in the Human World."

"I am not sure?" Aguman murmured. "But it would seem most likely. I never did get to see the Human World than you two did."

"Humans must be a lot stronger than we thought if they can make something as amazing as that." Cutemon's eyes were wider as he look at the gigantic statues up and down.

"Indeed." Mervamon nodded. "But look, the people on those boats are moving away quickly. We need to get down there and try to find them. Hopefully they'll be able to tell us where we are."

"Can we just stay here a bit longer? I'm not done looking yet?" Cutemon muttered as he look at the statues some more.

Mervamon and Agumon both chuckled, then Mervamon said. "As amazing as those statues are, we should be thinking about our current mission first. Come on, let's go."

"Hey, there's a bird's nest in the eye of one with the beard." Cutemon pointed.

"We must not delay Cutemon." Agumon said. "We must follow those people on the boats before we lose them."

He said and Mervamon didn't pause to look at the nest, she just turn around and moved into the forest,searching for a route that would take them down below where they might be able to find the three boats. At least they seemed to be heading towards the shore they were on as well. It would have be unfortunate if they'd had to go for a swim again, for the lake was huge!

She guessed it would take half an hour or so to reach the place where the boats were heading towards. she could only hope that they made it before the people in them wandered off.

XXX

The Fellowship had their boats up to shore and had clambered out and onto the bank they had selected to make camp. There was still a slightly tense atmosphere hanging over the group, as things had been relatively quiet between them recently. Frodo had been very edgy when he had gotten out of the boat, and there had been little noise as they each found a place to sit and rest. Merry, Pippin and Gimli quickly collected some firewood as Aragorn and Legolas unloaded the boats of various bits of gear.

"We cross the lake at nightfall!" Aragorn announced, fetching his bow and arrows out of the boat as well as his old ranger's cloak and the Elven cloak that had been given to him in Lothlorien. "Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh yes?" Gimli questioned from where he was crouched beside the fire surrounded by large rocks they had gathered and which they had just lit and breaking bits of wood into smaller and more usable chunks, catching Aragorn's attention in the process.

"Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil...?" Gimli pointedly asked. "An impassable labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks. And after that," He jabbed a stick in Aragorn's direction. "It gets even better. A festering, stinking marshland as the eye can see."

They could hear the sarcasm in Gimli's voice when he used the word 'Better' and Pippin was looking very nervous at the prospect of going through that. Even Legolas looked uneasy. But Aragorn just calmly started, "That is our road. I suggest you recover your strength Master Dwarf."

"Recover my..." Gimli sputter before he just subsided with a snort and started grumbling to himself as he place the stick on the fire.

Legolas moved over to Aragorn and murmured quietly so that the rest of the group would not hear. "We should leave now."

"No." Aragorn side immediately. "Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We must wait for the cover of darkness."

Legolas turned his head to stare out into the tree line of the forest, his eyes more wary and anxious than ever. "It is not the eastern shore that worries me." He shivered. "A shadow and threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near... I can feel it."

That got Aragorn's attention. He had been raised in Rivendell, he knew that the senses of Elves were something to be listened to and Legolas was deadly serious. The Prince of Mirkwood turned back and added. "And not only that... but I felt something strange last night. Something unusual. A disturbance in the fabric of the world and close to where we are."

"A disturbance in what sense?" Aragorn asked cautiously, now looking up into the forest himself.

"I am uncertain." Legolas murmured. "But it was like nothing I have ever felt before. Whatever it maybe, I feel it may have a big impact on the outcome of our world, and possibly our quest."

Aragorn had to resist the urge to bit his lip. He tried his best to be a calm and steady leader but when Legolas got worried then there was definitely something to worry about. Elves were not known to unnecessary paranoia. Temporary indecision gripped Aragorn. Should they proceed across the lake now and risk exposing themselves to orcs, or stay here and wait to see if something very worse found them.

Nearby, Merry stepped out of the trees with another firewood in his hands to place it beside the fire. Gimli was still grumbling himself."Hmph. Recover strength? Pay no heed to that young Hobbit."

Merry stood up after arranging the firewood and glanced around the campsite for a couple of seconds. A frown cross his face and he uttered two words which immediately set everybody on edge.

"Where's Frodo?"

Aragorn, who had been about to respond to Legolas, looked over sharply. Sam, who had been laying against a rock wall and trying to get some rest, blinked and quickly sat up, his head darting from side to side in search of his friend.

Aragorn was also looking about wildly in search of the young hobbit, but Merry was right. He was nowhere in the campsite. He slipped off at some point when Aragorn had not been paying attention. But the Ranger spotted something else, something that filled him with a deep sense of trouble. Boromir's shield and gear were laying in a pile nearby... but there was no sign of Boromir either.

"Oh no." He murmured quietly to himself and he quickly hurried off into the forest, several of the others hurrying after him.

XXX

Frodo wandered through the forest, seeking to be alone for a moment as he continued to ponder Galadriel's words. He had not decided yet whether he really wanted to go through with it... but Galadriel had told him that if he continued going towards Mordor with the rest of the Fellowship then the Ring would, one by one, find ways to kill or corrupt its other members. Frodo had been in two minds ever since.

On the one hand, he couldn't bear the thought of bringing any more harm to the Fellowship after what happened in Moria. But on the other hand, he was absolutely terrified at the prospect on going on such a dangerous journey by himself. How would he survive? He was no fighter. He couldn't take out a battalion of orcs or goblins the way Aragorn and the others could.

But if he carried on with the rest of the Fellowship... he would be responsible for their deaths.

Could he really be so selfish as to keep them around for his own protection? And besides, if they all remained around the Ring, then they could be just as dangerous to him as any goblin if it got into their heads. Even if he chose to go alone as Galadriel had told him.

Frodo had wandered to the foot of the ruin of what appeared to be an old Gondorian outpost or watchtower, up a flight of leaf-covered stone stairs and to the base of a fallen statue or rather the head of one. And enormous stone face was laying on its side and half buried in the ground, staring at him and Frodo couldn't help but wonder what it would suggest if it could say anything.

And then there was a voice from behind him that made Frodo's heart stop, through he kept his face perfectly neutral. It was the voice among the Fellowship that put him most on edge, the member who had so far expressed the most interest and fascinated in the Ring.

Boromir.

"None of us should be wondering alone," He said as he stepped out from behind a clump of trees, a large pile of firewood in his arms. "You, least of all," He added as he bent down to pick up another piece and add it to the pile already in his arms. "So much depends on you."

Frodo said nothing, giving Boromir a level, wary stare, trying to anticipate what he would do next. He knew that Boromir's fascinated with the Ring was not his fault. The Ring did have a will of its own and it was currently trying to dig its way into all their hearts. He could often feel it himself, like a dark hand was slowly squeezing his heart. It seemed that it had been able to burrow deeper into Boromir's thoughts than the others.

Boromir noticed Frodo staring at him and frowned. "Frodo?" He questioned. Frodo swallowed and looked away slightly, keeping Boromir in view the corner of his eye, but still not speaking. Boromir, frown still in place stepped a little closer. He was much taller than the Hobbit at least twice his height with ease, and Frodo was very aware of the fact.

"I know why you seek solitude." Boromir said quietly. "You suffer. I see it day by day. Are you sure you do not suffer needlessly?"

Frodo looked up at him again, already not liking where this conversation was going and guessing where it was heading. Boromir had been the most reluctant at the idea of taking the Ring to Mount Doom and his conversation with Aragorn last night was still fresh in the Hobbit's mind.

"There are other ways, Frodo." Boromir offered. "Other paths that we might take."

"I know what you would say." Frodo finally spoke. "And it seem like wisdom but for the warning in my heart."

"Warning?" Boromir grimaced, stepping closer again, and this time Frodo quickly stepped back away from him that was not block by a giant stone head that cut off his escape. "Against what?" Boromir questioned, turning and continuing to step towards him as Frodo continue to back away.

"We're all afraid Frodo." Boromir went on. "But to let that fear drive us to destroy what hope we have... don't you see? That is madness?"

"There is no other way." Frodo said immediately, knowing exactly what Boromir was getting at. From the moment he had first seen the Ring he had wanted to take it back to his city to try and wield its power himself. He had agreed eventually to take it to Mordor... but now it seemed his mind was back to its original desire.

Boromir evidently did not like Frodo's words, anger building on his face and as he growled. "I ask only for the strength to defend my people!" He throw the firewood in his arms to the ground as he did so and immediately sitting off alarm in Frodo's head. "If you would but lend me the Ring..."

"No!" Frodo backed away immediately as Boromir took a step closer again.

"Why do you recoil? I am no thief?" Boromir objected.

"You are not yourself." Frodo countered.

Boromir scowled, pressing his lips together before he growled. "What chance do you think you have? They will find you. They will take the Ring. And you will beg death before the end!"

This conversation and Boromir's increasing desire were more than enough to convince Frodo that Galadriel was right. The Ring was too dangerous to be kept around the others and Boromir was reaching the breaking point. Frodo knew then that he would have to leave the Fellowship and travel on alone, and he immediately turned around and began to walk away from Boromir.

Boromir did not take it very well. The Ring had a full grip on him now and he immediately started after Frodo with a snarl of anger. "You fool! It is not yours, save by unhappy chance!"

Frodo immediately increased his speed but Boromir's legs were longer and he gained quickly, causing Frodo to break into a run and cause Boromir to do the same. "It could have been mine! It should be mine! Give it to me!"

Boromir caught up and seized Frodo's back of his Elven cloak, pulling him onto his back before immediately falling on him, his hands reaching for Frodo's neck where the Ring hung from his chain underneath Frodo's shirt. Frodo thrashed but Boromir was twice as heavy and many times stronger than him and Boromir managed to grip the chain and tried to pull it out from under his shirt.

"Give it to me!" Boromir roared.

"No!" Frodo shouted, struggling valiantly.

"Give me the Ring!" Boromir yelled succeeding in pulling out the chain and gasping for the circlet of gold dangling from it.

"No!" Frodo screamed and the Hobbit quickly did the only thing that he could. He grab the Ring himself and broke it from its chain to slip it onto his own finger. Instantly he vanished from sight and Boromir hesitated, blinking in shock, but then he felt something invisible kick him in the chest and he fell backwards with a yelp, hearing a scrabbling noise as Frodo scrambled up and dashed away, a large log shifting of its own nearby as he ran off. And then there was nothing. Boromir was left alone on the forest floor, his hair straggled as he search the area for any sight of Frodo and saw nothing. The lost opportunity slowly brought a snarl of fury to his face.

"I can see your mind." He growled quietly as pushed himself upwards and roared into the forest. "YOU WILL TAKE THE RING TO SAURON! YOU WILL BETRAY US! Well, go to your death, AND THE DEATH OF US ALL!

He scrabble to his feet and attempt to step up the hill and chase after the Hobbit in a desperate attempt to track him down, still yelling. "CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU... AND ALL THE HALFLINGS!" But as soon as he spoke he stood on the corner of his cloak and tripped over, falling onto his front with a thud and sliding down hill to come to rest landed on his front at the base, his hair filled with leaves and his face smeared with dirt.

It was the jolt from the fall or perhaps it was the fact that the Ring was no longer close by, but suddenly Boromir felt a sense of freedom meaning that he could think quite clearly again all of a sudden. Almost immediately he was overcome with remorse and complete horror at what he had just been thinking and had attempted too do.

He had attempted to take the Ring! Even he had sworn an oath to protect Frodo all the way to Mordor and destroy the Ring. He had grabbed Frodo... attack him... and his mind he knew that if he had not been able to take the Ring while Frodo was still alive, he would not have hesitated to kill the Hobbit.

Oh dear Lord, what was wrong with him?

Boromir looked up slowly. The Gondorian man was tough in every sense of the world, but now there were tears in his eyes as his heart and soul were filled with sham at himself. There was a catch in his throat and his breath was coming out in ragged gasps, his eyes empty and haunted as what he had just done replayed in his mind over and over again.

"Frodo?" He asked thin air, brushing the hair out of his eyes and slowly looking for any sign of the Hobbit, only to see nothing as he had expected. "Frodo." He was close to sobbing now, his face trembling with repulsion and dismay. "What have I done? Please, Frodo. FRODO, I'M SORRY! FRODO, COME BACK!"

XXX

Frodo heard Boromir's shouts but they were in the distance already as he fled through the forest. He had no idea where he was going and he could see very little. with the Ring on his finger he might be invisible but everything around him was grey, distorted and seemed to be in constant swirling motion. Gandalf had once told him that for mortals like Frodo, the Ring transferred their physical body to the spirit plane, making them wraith like and invisible to all. And it certainly seemed that way to Frodo right now.

Not that Frodo cared. In his blind panic and attempts to get away from Boromir he now found himself running up another flight of stone steps and before he knew what he was doing he was crouched at the base of another, smaller statue of what appeared to be three eagles standing back to back and with wings raised. He curled himself up there, seeking to make himself as small as possible even though he was invisible, gripping the stonework tightly.

But then Frodo felt something, a presence... a dark, twisted and pure evil presence suddenly falling over the top of him, over shadowing him and seeking to smother him. Frodo's eyes snapped open and his own breath became ragged as he felt the dark presence trying to overwhelm him.

Almost against his will, Frodo clambered to his feet and stared East through a gap in the statue, everything around him still swirling and distorting violently. But Frodo did not see the spiritual landscape of the area beyond the statues. What he saw was a dark tower with a orange glow on the top that seemed to be rushing towards him at high speed until he reached the base and saw thousands of orcs marching through its gates.

Then, even though the stone he was standing on was not moving, his vision rushed upwards and upwards, shooting up the walls of the dark tower, everything taking on more and more orange hue around him as his vision ascended. And then Frodo's horror, he was at the top of the tower and there, nestled between the two spires at the top was enormous, blazing and flame wreathed, stilted Eye.

The true Master of the Ring.

The Eye of Sauron.

The stilted, black pupil of the Eye narrowed at it seemed to draw closer and closer, filling up his vision entirely as it focused on him. Frodo felt panic gripping him, knowing that Sauron knew exactly where he was, in reality, still a very long way away. Frodo heard the deep voice, uttering strange words in Black Speech of Mordor as the Eye drew closer and closer, seeking to engulf him completely and claim the Ring Frodo had in his finger.

Frodo had been warned this would happen if he put the Ring on and this had happened to him before, back in Bree. Panicked Frodo stepped backwards and misplaced his foot, falling off backwards and off the edge of whatever he was standing on and pulling the Ring off his finger.

XXX

The Eye vanished. The world returned to normal and Frodo's body appeared to drop about ten feet directly on the ground and land with a thump on his back that knocked the wind out of him. Luckily, Frodo was light and wasn't injured, but it still took him several seconds to regain his breath and try to sit up, the Ring clutched in his hand, gasping for breath.

He could see that he was now at the base of some kind of large stone structure with stairs that led up to a flat roof where the eagle statue stood, on the top of a large hill which overlooked the lake and all the surrounding areas. Though Frodo didn't know it, this was the seat of seeing atop the hill of Amon Hen which served as an old watchtower in times gone by, but was now falling to ruin like everything else around this place.

As Frodo sat up and tried to regain his breath, another voice behind him suddenly caused him to whirl around as it said. "Frodo?" Eyes wild, Frodo now found himself looking at Aragorn, who was looking down at him with one hand on the handle of his sword and look of concern.

"It has taken Boromir." Frodo gasped out immediately.

Aragorn's face instantly became a mask and he started forwards with a deadly serious expression. "Where is the Ring?"

"Stay away!" Frodo immediately yelled, scrambling to his feet and fleeing, turning around to skitter backwards as Aragorn followed him until he was back under the seat of seeing.

"Frodo." Protested Aragorn, coming to a stop next to the steps and holding his hands out to show he was not threatening and allowing Frodo to come to a stop, still very much wary. "I swore to protect you."

"Can you protect me from yourself?" Frodo challenged.

Aragorn frowned, but a look of drawing appeared on his face a moment later. Aragorn was no fool and neither was Frodo. The Hobbit could see that the Ranger had figured out that he was planning to go alone already with the one sentence alone and Frodo saw Aragorn's eyes moving slowly down to his clenched fist, his face sent in grim lines as he knew what lay within.

Frodo slowly allowed to reveal his hand, revealing the Ring in his palm of his hand. Aragorn stared at the Ring with a great amount of unease. Frodo looked up at him again, a look of desperation in his eyes. "Would you destroy it?" He asked. Slowly, his face unreadable, Aragorn walk closer to Frodo, his eyes fixed on the Ring lying in the Hobbit's palm. He stopped just in front of Frodo and continued staring at it, swallowing in trepidation as he did so.

This was one of Aragorn's tests, and one thing that he too had been worrying about for a while. He was the heir of Isildur, the man who had cut the very Ring from Sauron's finger three thousand years ago, but who had also been corrupted by it due to his weak spirit and had been unable to destroy it, thus dooming Middle Earth have to suffer Sauron rising again now. Aragorn had long worried that he too would possess that weakness of his ancestor. And now was the moment to find out.

**_"Aragorn."_**

Aragorn was barely aware of the voice that had suddenly appeared in the back of his head, faint and whispering like the deep breathing of some creature in the night. He didn't even notice, but when it occurred he felt drawn towards the Ring almost instantly and before he knew what he was doing he had stepped forward and was reaching down towards Frodo's open hand with his own. Frodo fought the urge to flinch away as Aragorn's hand hovered above his own.

**_"Aragorn."_**

The Ranger didn't move for a moment, staring at the Ring beneath his palm as if trying to decide what he was meant to do next.

**_"Elessar."_**

The voice had used one of his other names this time, an Elvish name given to him by Galadriel which translated to mean Elfstone due to the fact that he now wore the Evenstar of his beloved Arwen around his neck. Aragorn remained hesitated for a moment, before a dark look flashed across his face and he brought his other hand down, dropping slowly down to his knees so that his eyes were level with Frodo's as he slowly took Frodo's hand in his own and closed the Hobbit's fingers around the Ring, shutting it out of his sight and sending a clear signal to Frodo that he had no desire to take the Ring from him, the little golden circlet separated from his grasp by Frodo's fingers.

"I would have gone with you to the end." Aragorn said. "Into the very fires of Mordor." And he gave Frodo his final approval, moving Frodo's clenched fist back to press it against the Hobbit's chest before letting go and moving his hands away. He had done it. He had passed the test that Isildur had failed so long ago. Who knew that what would happen if he got any closer to Mordor but for now he was content to know that he had done it.

"I know." Frodo nodded.

There was a moment of silence between Man and Hobbit, both of them knowing what would happen next and neither of them like the idea of Frodo going to Mordor on his own, but knowing despite all their adventures it was the right thing to do. It was only a matter of time before some of the other members of the Fellowship began to get similar urges like Boromir and began to obsess over the Ring themselves.

"Look after the others." Frodo requested sadly. "Especially Sam. He will not understand."

Aragorn nodded once, wordlessly giving Frodo his promise that he would do just that.

But then, something caught his attention and glanced downwards, a frown appearing on his face before his eyes widened and he hissed. "Go Frodo!" And he was back on his feet, he drew out his long sword from his scabbard and in his hand in a flash. Frodo gasped and looked down at his own short sword that was hanging from his waist and instantly saw what had alarmed Aragorn. He pulled the blade slightly out of its scabbard to get a better look.

Frodo's sword was Elven make, and had been given to him by his uncle, Bilbo was the last person to carry the Ring. Bilbo had obtained the sword on his own adventures and had called it Sting because of how he used it to stab many giant spiders of Mirkwood before passing it on to Frodo for his own journey. But one of the traits of the sword was that it glowed blue when Orcs or their relatives like the Goblins drew close to act as a warning to the one who wielded it.

And right now, Frodo's sword was ablaze with blue light.

Frodo looked up wildly as Aragorn stepped away to head back out from under the seat of seeing. Aragorn turned back and said. "Run." Frodo didn't move for a second, so Aragorn repeated. "Run!" More forcefully and turned to step out into the light. Frodo jolted back to his senses, sheathed his sword and immediately run into the trees with a whirl of his Elven cloak and Aragorn move out into the open and found himself face with Orcs that appeared.

They were filling the gap in the trees on the top of the hill and were almost level with the seat already and had been moving quietly in hope of surprising them, but now they could clearly see that their prey had sighted them and they snarled in anger, brandishing their weapons and baring their fanged teeth. They were unlike any orc that Aragorn had ever encountered. They were taller, more upright like men and certainly of a sturdier and more powerful build. Where as a rabble of Orcs normally had little armor and the crudest possible weapons, these ones appeared to have the full armor, including helmets, thick breast plate and large spike swords in one hand and thick looking shield in another. some of them had white hand paint on their face, chest and shield. These were Uruk-hai. The creations of evil that Saruman had sent after the Fellowship had finally caught up with them.

The front runners wasted little time in running straight towards Aragorn at a snarl form one who appeared to be the leader and was without a helmet and had a bit of white hand mark on top half of his face. The Uruks at the front charged and the others picked up the pace, all eager for a piece of the single man standing before them. Aragorn held up his sword before his face for a moment before the first of his attackers reach him and swung its blade.

Aragorn was in motion, ducking to the side as the sword went sailing over the side of his face and stepping past the Uruk to slash into the back of its legs with his own sword and drop it. Aragorn swept back up to counter the blade of a second and push it away to follow up with and downwards stroke to the shoulder and follow up with a hefty punch to the nose of the Uruk behind it to send it tumbling to the ground with unnatural squeal, knocking over its comrades in the process.

Two more tried to leap over the fallen bodies of their comrades but Aragorn swept his sword across in a single mighty slash that cut both of them across their chest through the armor and caused them to fall backwards. Another leap over and swung for him but Aragorn's sword block the attack, as was his foot which kicked the Uruk in the knee and snarl of pain as he knocked its sword away and slashed it across the neck.

A couple more approached from behind and tried to attack but Aragorn whirled around to meet them, knocking the shield of one across with his sword to take the blow of the other in place of him. The Uruk quickly brought his shield back up to catch Aragorn's next blow and Aragorn was forced to duck underneath a slash from the second before he span around and plunged his sword through the second Uruks chest and span about again withdrawing his sword and slashing low under the shield to cut the other one across the stomach. Several of the Uruks had now overwhelm him and were trying to come at him from all angles. Having no desire to be surrounded, Aragorn quickly dashed for the stairs of the seat of seeing and pelted up them, closely followed by several Uruks, one of them slashing at his heels and just missing by inches. Aragorn whirled about near the top of the stairs and caught the Uruk up front, kicking it in the side to send it tumbling back down the stairs and into several of its comrades who all stumbled backwards as it fell.

One Uruk managed to avoid being hit and charged up to Aragorn, but the Ranger parried its strike and brought his sword hammering down into its chest to drop it as well, but more Uruks were swarming up over the bodies of their comrades so Aragorn backed further up to the top of the stairs to gain more height. The first of the Uruks that reach . the top with his slashed at his chest, which Aragorn blocked. Then it tried to slash from the mid-section but Aragorn turned its blade aside, where Aragorn nailed it in the back with his elbow and caused it to go tumbling off the edge of the seat before turning to face the next Uruks.

As the Uruks crowded around the bottom of the stairs, the tall leader, whose name was Lurtz and who had been the first and strongest Uruk-hai to be created so far, roared out at them to remind them of what they were sent here to do.

"Find the Halflings!" He yelled pushing his way into the crowded with a furious snarl. "Find the Halflings!"

The Uruks quickly responded and the crowd around the steps changed course and began to run off towards the forest in the direction that Frodo ran in search of their real goal and the burden that he carried. As Aragorn beheaded another Uruk with a clean swing of his sword, Lurtz shout reach his ears and he looked over wildly as the Uruks plunged through the trees and away from him.

IN a desperate and mad to stop them as many of them from going as he could and keep their attention on him as he dashed to the edge of the seat, other swinging swords missing his Elven cloak by inches behind him before he leap off the edge with a yell of "Elendiiilll!"

He crashed on top of a large cluster of Uruks and brought them all crashing to the ground around him and fall flat onto their faces. Aragorn rolled over onto his back as another Uruk bore down on him with sword raised and swung his blade upwards so the Uruk was impaled itself on the tip and fell across its length, collapsing on top of Aragorn in a dead heap.

Most of the Uruks were still fleeing into the forest to find the Hobbits but several others saw the opportunity of an easy kill with Aragorn pinned beneath the body of their comrade and close in on him. But suddenly, help was at hand when Legolas and Gimli suddenly arrived on the scene, dashing out beneath the seat and ready for battle.

In search for Frodo the Fellowship had scattered, and the Elf and Dwarf had heard the sounds of combat and hurried to the area, the Elf with an arrow already drawn on his bow and the Dwarf with his double-bladed battle-axe in hand.

Legolas let off his arrow with a swift and shot straight to the neck of the first Uruk while Gimli throw a throwing axe which hit into the forehead of another and drop dead. Aragorn managed to push the body of the Uruk on him and surged upwards to plunge his sword through the stomach of another. Another Uruk bore down on him but Gimli cleaved straight through its thick chest armor with a mighty blow from his axe.

"Aragorn! Go!" Legolas cried as he push Aragorn in the direction the other Uruks were taking, while Gimli swung about to bowl Uruk over with a swing of his axe. The Elf leap backwards as two more Uruks ran towards him, drawn another arrow and firing it into the first so it plunged straight into its body and came out the back, causing the second Uruk to crash straight into the back of his comrade and impale himself on the same arrow and make both of them fall backwards on top of one another. Another Uruk ran straight towards Legolas from the side, but Legolas pulled out another arrow and lunged forwards to stab him in the neck with it and drop him before pulling it out and draw it, firing it into the forehead of the one behind it.

Aragorn dashed in front of several other Uruks to cut off their route into the forest and swept his blade across the legs of the first one, slashing through its shins so hard that it flip over. Aragorn rolled to the side as several more charged him, find his back pressed against another old piece of ruin as one Uruk slammed its sword into his own to push him back against it. Aragorn quickly drew the curved knife given to him by Celeborn and plunged it into the Uruk's gut, wrenching his sword free to nail it in the face with a punch and duck aside as more came for him.

There seemed to be no end to the swarm of Uruks around them, but they had to find a way of protecting the Halflings.

XXX

Down by the boats, the beach was now now completely empty. Every member of the Fellowship had scattered into the wood in search of Frodo, leaving the campsite abandoned and quiet, except for Gimli's fire which was sputtering weakly in the ring of stones where they had left it.

Which was why nobody there to great Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon when the tall Amazonian Digimon and her two companions finally stepped into the camp.

"Here are the boats." Cutemon frowned as they look around the empty campsite. "But where are all of the people that were on them?"

"I don't know." Mervamon muttered quietly, stepping out into the middle of the camp and Agumon followed her as they both looking around. "They should still be here."

"I have to agree with you Mervamon." Agumon said. "They can't just leave the area without their gear." Agumon pointed at the equipment on a tree and on the floor.

"Your right. Do you think we missed them?" Cutemon asked sadly, his ears dropping. "Do you think they moved on and we'll have to keep looking to find out where we are? I don't recognize any place that we've seen so far."

"And there's no sign of the others either." Mervamon agreed. "But I don't think that the people at this campsite have gone. Look, the fire's still going and a lot of their gear is still laying around the place. They're still here but... for some reason they've all gone off somewhere. How strange?"

"Well, should we wait for them?" Cutemon perked up a little.

"I am not sure the idea for them to see us is a good idea?" Agumon frowned.

"I have to agreed with you Agumon." Mervamon turn to Cutemon. "Because Cutemon how would they take a group of strangers like us in the middle of their campsite when they get back." Mervamon frowned. "But I fear that it is the only option. Perhaps..." She suddenly stopped and listened without moving a muscle, straining her ears.

"Is something wrong?" Agumon asked as he was already on alert.

"What is it?" Cutemon whispered nervously.

"Shhh." Mervamon whispered, holding a finger up to her lips. Cutemon clamped his mouth shut and Agumon was silent, the three of them listening to the sounds of the forest around them. There was no bird song and the distant sound of the giant waterfall rumbled in the background... but they heard something else in the distance as well...

... The sound of steel clashing against steel. The kind of sound of swords made when they struck against one another and it was happening now.

Mervamon's eyes narrowed. "I think that the people we were following have run into some kind of trouble."

"Fighting?" Cutemon murmured nervously. "There's a battle going on over there?"

"We should go over there and help them!" Agumon said.

"Indeed." Mervamon nodded, summoning her big sword from thin air. "I don't know whether the people we were looking for were the good guys or the bad guys... but I say that we go in there and introduce ourselves."

Cutemon gulped but clenched his fists. "Let's do it!"

"I'm with you guys!" Agumon was determine to face a battle.

Mervamon let a yell from her lips and Agumon yelled too as they charged into the trees towards the sounds of a battle.

XXX

They were not the only ones who were charging through the woods having heard the sounds of swords. Sam Gamgee was rushing through the forest at breakneck speed for a Hobbit, shoving bushes aside and charging through the undergrowth of the forest. "Mister Frodo!" He was shouting at the top of his voice, desperately trying to find his best friend before the Uruk-hai did so far no luck.

Fear was griping Sam tightly. He had not done a lot of fighting before and he was sure that if he came up against any orcs in the area then he would have a serious problem on his hands. But the brave and loyal Sam Gamgee didn't care and plunged on regardless. If something happened to Frodo and he wasn't there to at least try and defend him then he would never be able to forgive himself.

XXX

Frodo himself was fleeing from the Uruk-hai, stumbling through the undergrowth and his cloak snagging on bushes as he pelted through the trees. He could hear the sound of pursuing Uruks behind him, but when he glanced over his shoulder he could not see them. They were still too faraway. But he knew that they were after him now and no matter how fast he ran he would never be able to outrun them.

He misplaced his footing as he was looking over his shoulder and knocked a small sapling with his shoulder and fell off in the downward slope he was running down to tumble onto his back and go rolling, but he was back on his feet and running again moments later. The urge to put on the Ring suddenly gripped him again, but he shoved it back down desperately and scrambled upwards. He picked a nearby tree and pulled himself behind its trunk, pressing his back against it and flattening himself between the trees thick roots as much as possible and trying not to breathe. The first wave of Uruks quickly came down on the area where Frodo was lying crouched and Frodo could feel his heart pounding as they closed in on his position.

But it seemed that the Uruks, while tougher than regular Orcs, still possessed the fairly limited intelligence and one track mind that most Orcs had, for the Uruks did not bother looking around them as they ran straight past the tree and down the hill, completely missing the Hobbit that they were tracking down. Frodo pressed himself closer to the tree and froze as not to attract any more unwanted attention and, sure enough, the Uruks completely bypassed him.

The other Uruks were still at the top of the hill dealing with Aragorn's interruption so there was a momentary lure the Uruks passing the tree. During this moment, Frodo heard a hissing voice from nearby. "Frodo." Frodo glanced to his left and spotted the speaker was Merry, who was hiding in a thick bush and underneath a large, fallen log and peering out at him from nearby. Pippin was just over his shoulder, and the former Hobbit made hurried beckoning motions while the latter called out. "Hide here, quick! Come on!"

But Frodo didn't move. He just stared at the two of them for several moments, a slow and sad look appearing on his face. Merry and Pippin both slowed to a halt and stared back, a frown appearing on Merry's face while Pippin just looked confused.

"What's he doing?" Pippin asked his companion, still staring across the gap at Frodo.

Merry did not answer for a moment, but he too was quite sharp when it came to realizing what the others were thinking. And Frodo knew it. The sadness on his face increased and he just shook his head in a silent message. He couldn't join them and just hide. He had to escape and quickly.

"He's leaving." Merry breathed in slight horror.

A look of shock across Pippin's face and Frodo looked away, feeling the guilt welling up inside him at the thought of leaving these two behind, who had stuck with him all the way from the Shire, longer than he could ask more than any Hobbit.

"No!" Pippin cried and suddenly stepped forward out of the bush and towards him.

"Pippin!" Merry hissed and pulled himself out after him, trying to pull him back before he did something foolish. But at a snarl from above, Pippin pulled to a stop and grabbed Merry's shoulder, looking up the hill, were the next wave of Uruk-hai could be seen running downwards, having gotten past Aragorn again. The two of them stared at the sheer numbers of the large Orcs before them.

It was then that Merry knew they had to help Frodo to get away no matter what the cost. He turned to Frodo and said quickly. "Run, Frodo! Go!"

Then, he turned back up the hill and pointed at the Uruks, yelling. "Hey! Hey you! Over here!" And leaping up and down, waving both arms, trying to get their attention. Pippin caught on immediately and also shouted. "Hey!" And copied Merry's actions. The Uruks spotted the two hobbits and snarls of triumph rippled through their ranks as they charged down straight towards them.

"Over here!" Merry yelled.

"This way!" Pippin cried as the two of them turned around and run off in the opposite direction from Frodo, drawing the Uruks after them and away from Frodo's hiding place. The Uruks took the bait and dashed after them, gaining on them quickly as the small but brave Hobbits ran down the hill and dodged around the trees.

Frodo actually had to suppress his sob in his throat, hoping against all hope that this was not the last time he saw his two dear friends before he pushed himself off from the trees and run in the direction of the boats, unnoticed by the Uruks and disappearing into the forest quickly.

"It's working!" Pippin cried as he dashed over a small stone bridge over a ditch.

"I know it's working! Run!" Merry cried, pushing Pippin ahead of him as the Uruks drew closer with every passing second.

XXX

Legolas and Gimli had finally caught up with Aragorn again to help him against the waves of Uruk-hai. Legolas had drawn two long knives that he also had sheathed in his quiver and using them to great effect, ducking under a wild slash from another Uruk and lashing upwards to stab it in the neck with both blades, pulling them out as the body dropped to the floor and spinning around as another Uruk slash went over his head and stabbing his knives down into the Uruk's hip from behind and then lash out with one knife to parry another's strike while the other was brought lashing up into another's gut.

Aragorn had been knock for a loop by the blow of another Uruk as he had dispatched it with his sword and was hurriedly pushing himself back up to his feet as another bore down on him and slash down.

Aragorn was unable to raise his weapon in time, but Gimli's axe suddenly in the way and parried the blow, hooking the blade and wrenching it aside with a heave of the Dwarf's strong muscles that disarmed the opponent and allowed him to cleave his axe right into the Uruk's stomach. Another Uruk rounded the pillar Aragorn was next to and slashed at him, but Aragorn ducked and the sword clattered against stone. Quick as a flash, Aragorn plunged his dagger into the Uruk's stomach, a roar of pain from it that turned into a yelp as Aragorn grabbed it and smacked its head into the pillar.

Gimli slammed the blow of another aside with ease and brought his axe slamming back into the side of its helmet to send it rolling, roars of battle on the Dwarf's lips as he took delight in the fighting. Aragorn grasped his sword and reversed it to stab through another Uruk approaching from behind, with drawing the blade and whirling back to kick it in the chest and send it sprawling and dead.

XXX

Merry and Pippin run on through the forest with the Uruks gaining with every passing second, but as they neared the foot of the giant hill of Amon Hen and dashed across another small bridge, Merry suddenly pulled to a halt and threw an arm out to stop Pippin. To the horror of both, the Uruks that had run pass before had doubled back on themselves and were coming straight towards them, so now there were enemies on both sides.

One of the Uruks had a giant single bladed axe and was bearing down on the Hobbits with a savage grin of success.

There was nowhere to run.

And then, dashing up the hill from the side came Boromir, sword drawn and a grimace on his face as he charged into battle, determined to redeem himself after what had happened between him and Frodo. The Uruk with the axe raised his weapon at the Hobbits but was blindsided by Boromir who seized the handle at his weapon and rammed into him, kicking him in the groin and spinning him around to slam the axe right between his shoulder blades and slay the Uruk.

Other Uruks closed in and raised their blades to strike out at Boromir, but Merry and Pippin suddenly remembered that they too had swords and quickly drew them out, ducking under the guards of Uruks and plunging their blades into the stomachs of two more and pushing them back despite their small size. Boromir swung his sword wide and cut across the necks of two others with a mighty arc and throw a dagger from his other hand that plunged into the neck of a third which shrieked and collapsed in a heap.

Boromir quickly got the two Hobbits, who had far less combat experience, behind him and turned to face the other oncoming foes, whirling his sword once deftly in his hand and wishing that he had his shield, which he had left back at camp. As the other Uruks closed in and Boromir quickly cut through the last of front runners, he whirled around to seize the hand of another that was about to slash at him and plunge his blade into its pelvis and hurl it backwards into two of its comrades and swung his his sword at another to batter its shield out of the way and cleave it from the hip to shoulder and whirl about to parry the slash of another and muscle forwards, ramming it to the ground and stabbing the fallen body.

He withdrew his blade as more and more kept coming over the hill above them, knowing that he had to protect Merry and Pippin at all costs and throwing himself into battle.

XXX

Legolas plucked his knife out of the corpse of another dead Uruk where he had thrown it and brought it slashing up to parry and overhead blow from another. Quick as a flash, the Elf span around, throwing the enemy's blade out wide and whirling back around to slash both knives through the Uruks chest not once but twice in rapid succession, devastating the Uruks front and dropping it like a rock.

Another Uruk ran towards him and this one had a shield which it was holding in front of it, ready to take any hits Legolas threw at it. Legolas waited his time until the Uruk was almost on him and then sprang straight upwards, grabbing the branch of a tree and hauling his legs up so that not only did the Uruk's slash miss and strike the trunk but Legolas also double kick him in the face and sent him sprawling. Legolas dropped down, sheathing on knife and slinging his bow again in a single quick motion before plunging his remaining knife into the fallen Uruk's stomach.

As two more Uruks bore down on him, Legolas' hand shot up to sheath his other knife and pull two arrows out of his quiver and pull them both back of his bow at the same time, letting fly so that each arrow slammed into the forehead of one Uruk and knocked them back with no life in their bodies.

Nearby, Gimli seemed to be having fun time of his life. He slammed the butt of his axe into the face of one Uruk and ducked under a slash from the one on his side before bringing the other end of his axe slamming upwards with such force that he broke the Uruk's neck, allowing Gimli to whirl about and bring his axe striking down into the chest of one lying on the floor. Three more Uruks came charging towards him together, but Gimli was ready and waiting for them.

The sturdy Dwarf ran to meet them and slammed his axe handle up to catch the strikes of two of the Uruks before he whipped himself around to cleave the legs out from the third. One of the remaining two lash out at Gimli again but Gimli slammed his axe upwards with enough force to actually snap the blade in parry and allow his axe to slam the Uruk upside the head and slay him, leaving Gimli more than able to take down the final Uruk with a downward cleave straight to the forehead, splitting the helmet and taking the life from the Uruk's body.

"Hey Legolas!" He called over to the Elf as he stepped over the Uruk's body and parried the strike of another. "Do you think we should turn this into some sort of competition?" He swung his axe around so its end caught the Uruk in the face and twisted it around, allowing him to sweep the blade into the small of its back. "See which of us can kill the most of these guys?"

"Perhaps another time, Master Dwarf!" Legolas called back, leaping backwards as another Uruk took a vain swing at the Elf's head and fired an arrow in mid-jump that thudded into the Uruk's throat. "I fear that I have not been counting this time. We would not get an accurate account of what happened."

"Fair enough." Gimli nodded, spinning about to charge under another clumsy swing and ram his head into the chest of the next Uruk and throw him to the ground with his sturdy weight.

"Gimli! Behind you!" Aragorn suddenly yelled from where he was grappling with another Uruk that managed to get hold of him and was gnashing its teeth in his face. Gimli spun about to see two Uruks that managed to gain some height and both of them leaped off an old piece of ruin, falling towards him with both furious snarl and both swords raised.

Gimli hefted his axe and prepared to swing up one of them while Legolas draw an arrow and prepared to fire the other at the same time.

But neither of them got the chance to kill the two Uruks. Someone else beat them to it.

An enormous sword, larger in width than Legolas whole body came spinning out of the trees and a big fireball came out of the trees too as they hit the two Uruks. The sword splitting the first Uruk in half and impaling it against the wall it had jump off, causing it to hang there in a grisly display of death, and the big fireball struck the other Uruk as it was consume in flames, then its body was burn to a crisp as its body hit the ground. For a moment all activity ceased even the other Uruks were shocked in silence. The Uruk that was grappling with Aragorn stopped moving and as they all stared at the big sword and burnt body.

Then there was two roars and rumbling sound that chilled the blood of every single Uruks as everyone whirled around to look at the source and saw two strange creatures they never seen before. One of them was a woman with long green hair almost half as tall as even Aragorn and Legolas and with what appeared to be a huge snake for an arm of all things and the other was some kind of yellow dragon with red bands in his hands and it was small like Gimli with three claws in its hands and standing on two feet as they both thundered through the trees nearby, a furious battle-cry on her lips and her hair streaming out behind her as she dashed into the fray with the dragon.

The Uruks didn't know what hit them. Two of them were bowled over with a swipe of the snake arm before they knew what was happening and hit the tree trunks with sickening crunches and the woman grabbed another by the neck in her only real hand and spun it around, slamming it into the ground and snapping its neck with ease before she sprang up, snake-arm lashing outwards to close the jaws around the other and swing him like a bat, cannoning him right into four others. The dragon strike a Uruk with its claws as it slash through the armor like butter and it open its mouth and it fired a fireball right to another as it was consume in flames, while the two of them kept running.

"What...?" Gimli gasped as the tall woman and dragon run past him and the woman wrenched the sword out of the wall, causing the body it was impale to fall in a heap as she and the dragon turned around and snarled.

"Alright then." The woman growled. "Does anybody else want to mess with me?"

"I will burn you all to a crisp." The dragon spoke as he growled next to the woman.

Legolas drawn his bow and pointed it at the woman and the dragon warily as the other Uruks backed away.

"Wait! Don't shoot them!" A voice called behind Legolas as he turned to see was a small pink bunny jump out of the bushes. "Mervamon and Agumon are on your side!" He urged him. "You are the good guys right?"

"Good... guys...?" Legolas faltered. "I... supposed, yes. We fight against the forces of evil."

"Well then, you just got yourself some new allies in battle." The woman, now called Mervamon smirked as she heft her sword. "Shall we continue?"

"I have got your backs covered." The yellow dragon called Agumon smirked as he was ready to face the Uruks.

Shaking himself out of his stunned state, Aragorn remembered, breaking the nose of the Uruk who was gripping him and knocking him to the ground, where Aragorn finished him off with a plunge of his sword. The motion seemed to spark a reaction which got the whole battle ground moving again. As the Uruks shook off their stun shock as they charged back into the battle. Legolas whirled around and released the arrow into another and pulled out four more to shoot one Uruk each. Gimli charged forwards to bat the sword aside and crush his blade into his hip. Aragorn hurried forwards and plunged his blade through another Uruk and shoved it aside while barely stopping in his side as Mervamon and Agumon both leap into battle.

A swarm of Uruks charged towards Mervamon, but her eyes narrowed as she dashed in to meet them. With a mighty swing of her sword she cleaved two in half and span around to extend her snake arm out and knock two moreover. She leveled out her sword to catch the blades of two other Uruks and thrust forwards to bear them to the ground, cutting through their swords and their bodies in the same time before whirling around slam her spiked foot across the face of another.

Three Uruks charge at Agumon as one of them slash downwards at him. Agumon used one of his claws to block it and the other claw to stab him in the stomach as the Uruk drop dead. The other two were raising their weapons up as they prepare to cut him down. Agumon shouted. **"PEPPER BREATH!"** He fired from his mouth as a big fireball struck the two Uruks as they were consume in flames as they drop dead.

Mervamon's snake arm changed direction and seized another Uruk in its jaws to toss it upwards with a flick of its head. Mervamon brought up her foot and booted another approaching Uruk in the face without even having to lift up excessively high and send it flying back with such force that it knock over several of its comrades, allowing Mervamon to swing her sword out to one side to slice across two others and then back the other way to decapitate another.

Aragorn hurried to her side and sliced the tip of his sword across the neck of another Uruk that is approaching from the side and slammed his sword into the top of another's blade to send it spiraling out of its hand and allowed him to double back his swing and cut through its throat. "Listen." He called to Mervamon and Agumon. "I don't know who you two are or what you two are but I shall ask questions later. Right now, I suppose thanks are in order."

"Don't thank us yet." Mervamon said, burying the tip of her sword into another Uruk, lifting it into the air and tossing it aside to crash into another. "We still have to win this battle first. And then I have a few questions of my own for all of you."

"She's right." Agumon came next to Aragorn as he thrust both of his claws at two Uruks that were charging at them got stab in the chest as they both drop dead. "We too fight against evil."

"Wise decision." Aragorn nodded, skewering another Uruk through the stomach as Mervamon's snake arm lashed around to more Uruks and slammed them together, wrapping them in its coils as she continued to swing her sword.

Agumon fought another Uruk as he duck under the Uruk's slash of its blade and stab him with his claw as the Uruk shriek as it died. Agumon turn and saw a Uruk is charging towards Cutemon. "Cutemon watch out!" Agumon shouted.

The bunny gasped as he saw another Uruk charging straight towards him, but suddenly Legolas was standing over it and caught the swing of its sword on his bow, twisting it aside and slamming it in the face with it like a staff before drawing an arrow and shooting it into its head.

"Thank you." Cutemon grinned up at him.

"No trouble... Whoever you are." Legolas nodded, reaching upwards towards another arrow.

But then, a sudden loud sound echoed through the trees in the distance, blasting three times in deep thumping noises.

"It's the Horn of Gondor." Legolas eyes widened.

"Boromir needs help." Aragorn cried and dashed off into the trees in the direction the call had come from, crashing past an Uruk as he went. The bunny looked over and caught Mervamon's and Agumon's eyes. The tall Amazonian woman and the small yellow dragon both nodded, rushing over and Mervamon scooping Cutemon up to place him on her shoulder as they dashed through the forest as well.

XXX

**The Digimon now showed themselves to the Fellowship and fighting alongside with. Now are hurrying to save Boromir and the Hobbits. What happens next?**

**Next time Chapter 9: The Amazon, The Healer and The Dragon.**


	9. Ch 9 The Warrior, Healer and Dragon

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 9 The Amazon Warrior, The Healer and The Dragon**

**XXX **

As Legolas and Gimli continued to fend off the Uruk-hai that were still coming down the hill towards them, Aragorn and the three newcomers went into battle further down in the direction of the sound of the horn that blared through the forest. Mervamon had very little clue as to what was going on but she and Agumon both had gathered enough to know that sound of the horn meant someone was in trouble, probably a companion to the three people they had already met.

And she was going to be damned if she just stood by while someone else was in trouble.

Agumon was right next to her ready to help the other people that are in trouble.

Cutemon, who was riding on Mervamon's shoulder, pointed ahead and cried, "There's more of them coming this way!"

And he was right. several of the Uruks had noticed the four heading in the same direction they were heading and had doubled back on themselves. One of them ran up to Aragorn and tried to swing at his head, but the Ranger brought his sword up and slammed the blade aside, delivering a hammer blow to the side of the Uruk's face with his fist and sending it rolling and dodging the blow of a second to plunge his sword through the stomach of a second and shove it forwards so he could keep running with no pause.

Mervamon had to admit she was impressed with this guy's swordsmanship, but she had little time to admire his handiwork, because some of the braver Uruks were heading towards her and Agumon as well, despite the fact she was a lot taller them they were and while Aragorn was shorter. She couldn't help but smirk to herself as she hefted both of her arms. They were welcome to try and take her on. And Agumon was ready to use his claws to face them too.

The first Uruk swept almost clumsily at her knees and it was just a simple matter of leaping over it and planting her feet squarely on his shoulder and flatten him to the ground. Two more rushed her from opposite direction but she swept her sword out to slam one with the flat of the big sword and send him flying into the second and send them both flying, and then as a couple more dashed towards her from the front she threw herself into a spinning leap, beheading one with a swing of the sword and bringing her foot crashing into the throat of another.

A few Uruks rushed at Agumon as one of them swing his sword to behead him. Agumon duck under and trust his claw into the Uruk's stomach as it died. Three more rush at him and Agumon turn to face them. "Let's see how you guys like this!" He said as he open his mouth. "**PEPPER BR****EATH!"** He shouted as he fire his fireball attack at the Uruks, the fire ball struck at them and burn all three to a crisp as they all drop dead.

Now Aragorn had to admit that he was impressed as he shoved another Uruk out of the way and swung him around to slice through another and keep on running. Whoever or whatever those two are they were capable warriors and he was thankful for that, at least for the present, they appeared to be on his side.

But another horn blast from Boromir snapped his focus back and he hurried of through the forest, the two mysterious creatures are hard on his heels.

XXX

Boromir was fighting using every ounce of his strength as he held the Uruk-hai back, determined to protect Merry and Pippin as the two hobbits continued to step backwards, swords drawn but with fear on their faces. Having dispatched one Uruks with a blow to the back of its knees, Boromir looked up too see another almost upon him with sword already raised, so he quickly threw himself forward and rammed his shoulder into its knees, pushing upwards and lifting the Uruk off its feet and over his back to crash to the ground in a heap.

Boromir lashed around and finished the downed Uruk off with a downwards cleave of his sword, seizing his curved white horn again and blowing into it, desperately calling out for help. All he could see were more Uruks coming out of the trees ahead of him there are dozens. Boromir was strong but he very much doubted he would be able to hold off this many Uruks for long. He needs help.

Ushering Merry and Pippin away as he spun around to catch the sword swing of the next Uruk's arm and send it tumbling to the ground. Another Uruk tried to sneak around him and get the Hobbits, but Pippin suddenly took everyone by surprise by leaping at it and latching onto its chest, carrying it to the ground. Merry hurried to join him as Boromir swept his sword across the neck of another and parried another's attack, muscling forwards with a cry and throwing it off its feet to bring his sword plunging down into its chest.

Merry and Pippin quickly did the same to the Uruk they were on and finished it off, grimaces on their faces as they did.

Boromir swung upwards and caught the sword of the next Uruk with such force it went shooting out of its hand and impaled it on his blade, kicking it off and send it crashing into another Uruk coming up behind. Boromir looked up wildly as another sword swung at his neck and he brought his sword up to block it just as a second Uruk swung at him from the other side.

Boromir lashed up with his other hand and caught the fist of the second Uruk in his palm, halting the blow and then swinging it across the Uruk's sword slashed across the other Uruk and killed it, allowing Boromir to pull his sword away and ram it into the gut of the second Uruk.

But more and more Uruks just kept coming, their numbers seem to multiply with every passing second. "Run! Run!" Boromir yelled, turning and steering the Hobbits further into the trees and following behind them backwards as best as he could, spinning up to block another swing and stab the Uruk before it could blink.

XXX

Mervamon, Agumon and Aragorn kept running but it seemed that every time they ran ten paces, more Uruks came in from the front and the side to try and best them. Aragorn had shoved one to its knees and slashed across the neck before it could get back up, Agumon was blasting them with fireballs from his mouth and slash the Uruks with his claws to clear a path and Mervamon had actually managed to cleave one in half with the strength of her swing.

Almost without realizing what they were doing, the three of them were beginning to coordinate themselves and work more as a team. as they struck close to one another, Mervamon darting across Aragorn to slash through an Uruk closing in on his left as Agumon fire a fireball at a Uruk coming at Aragorn's right when the Uruk burn to a crisp, Aragorn slammed another Uruk between the eyes with the pommel of his sword. Aragorn then spun around to cut through another Uruk that had leap at Mervamon and whirled around in time to see Mervamon's snake arm swing across and bowl to others in front of him away as if it were a club, and Aragorn quickly drew his dagger and flung it right in front of Agumon's stomach to ram into the belly of another Uruk.

The three of them shared a brief nod at each other before they continued to run on. By this point, many of the Uruks realized that the three of them were extremely dangerous as they fought together, and now they had turned around and charging at them. As Aragorn retrieved his dagger and then three of them kept running, they were heading right into the lines of charging Uruk-hai.

Aragorn had to suppress an urge to hiss of frustration. They didn't have the time to fight their way through all of these Uruks they had to get to Boromir now!

Almost as he thought it, Mervamon cried. "Cutemon! Clear a path!"

Cutemon beamed. "Yay! I get to do something!" He cried as Mervamon raised her snake arm. Cutemon sprang from her shoulder and planted his feet on her snake arm, sliding down it if he was on a snowboard right as Mervamon extended it out towards the charging Uruks. Cutemon slid down the arm and flipped onto the snake head right as it pulled to a stop in front of the Uruks and gathered his strength within his chest to cry out.

"**SUPER SONIC WAVE!"**

With a scream, a series of green sound waves erupted from Cutemon's mouth and wash over the Uruks right before they reach him. Even fifteen yards away as Aragorn was and the sound almost tore his ear-drums. To the Uruks it was agony and they all crashed into an invisible wall, hands dropping their weapons and slamming up to their ears, howling as the collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.

Mervamon gripped Aragorn by the shoulder and hurried him forwards and Cutemon stopped his attack and allowed Mervamon to reel him back in and hop back onto her shoulder as Agumon followed behind them as the two Digimon and the Man bounded over the fallen, groaning Uruks and pelted back on down the hill.

XXX

Boromir valiantly fought on as the Uruks piled in on him, pushing him backwards ever further and forcing him to move swifter and more quickly to try and keep up with them all and kill them before another could take a swing at him from another direction. The sweat on his forehead as he kept the giant Orcs at bay, slamming one's shield aside and kicking his feet out from underneath his feet, swinging around in the same motion to block the strike of another, seize him and shove him down on top of the first one and then stab through them both as they lay dead.

He moved forward, cleaving upwards through another's waist and knock his sword high in the same swing and then brought the blow of his sword hammering down on another's helmet, cutting off its vision and causing it to yelp as Boromir rammed it in the chest with his shoulder and piled into three others as he spun around to thrust his blade past the guard of another. The two Hobbits were doing their best to help and their efforts were proving useful. Both of them were now throwing large stones past Boromir at the oncoming Uruks, and while this didn't kill them but it did stun them for a few seconds or even knocked them off their feet, lessening the hoard of Uruks that were reaching Boromir all at once and giving him an easier time of it, though it was still proving difficult even for the mighty warrior.

A throw from Pippin caught one between the eyes and brought him down to the ground and Merry quickly followed up by throwing two rocks in rapid succession, catching one in the throat and bowling them both flat right before they reach Boromir, allowing the Gondorian the time to cut another's legs out from underneath it and slash across the chest of the next and dent its armor before sending it rolling with a punch to the nose and round on the next one to stab it with such force that his sword came plunging out the other side and forced another Uruk to skid to a stop before it impaled itself on the blade, allowing Pippin to hit it in the face with another rock and knocking it over. But as Boromir rounded to face the next and slam its shield back and forth with his sword before it could swing its own sword, causing it to lose feeling in its arm and drop the shield numbly so Boromir could slash across its chest with ease, another Uruk appeared over the hill There were still a lot of them coming over the hill, but unlike the others this one was walking at a calm pace. It was not wearing a helmet, had a snarl on its face and a large white hand painted upside down on his face.

It was Lurtz the first of the Uruk-hai to be born and strongest one.

Lurtz pulled to a stop at the top of the hill as more Uruks running past, watching for a second as Boromir continued to wreak havoc on the other Uruks. The ground was littered with their bodies and Boromir hacked through the chest of one and the stomach of another in the same time and swung back to curve the chest of the second as well and send them both crashing to the ground. He was showing no signs of stopping, despite the hordes of other Uruks that were still charging at him. And Lurtz could see the two Hobbits throwing rocks behind Boromir. They were the ones Saruman had sent them for.

So the Gondorian had to go.

And that was why, as Boromir cut another one across the hip and knocked it over and couple of more rocks from the Hobbits throw overhead to smack into the heads of the other Uruks, Lurtz raised the bow in his hand, drawing one arrow from the quiver at his waist and he slowly drew it on its string, aiming at the moment and snarling in anticipation.

Boromir whipped around and batted the shield out of the hands of another and slammed it upside the chin with his blade, unaware of the danger at the Uruk feel aside, Lurtz had a clear shot.

He took it and fired the arrow.

Boromir half turned to face the next Uruks but the black arrow struck into his chest right above his heart. The wind knocked out of him as the arrow punctured his lung and he staggered backwards, shock spreading across his face as he struggled for breath.

Merry, who had been about to throw another rock, pulled to a stop and both of the Hobbits starred in absolute horror as Boromir, wheezing and his breath coming out in a ragged gasp, slowly collapsed to his knees, staring at the arrow struck to his chest and his sword dropping to the ground. As he make his way down the hill as more Uruks moved forward.

But the Uruks thought Boromir was finished they were wrong. Despite the pain and his lack of breath, Boromir wrenched his thoughts back to the battle and with a cry of desperation he surged back to his feet and swatted aside the sword of another Uruk before it could react, slammed it across the head and plunged his sword into its gut, withdrawing it sharply as more came towards him. Merry and Pippin could only stare as the warrior fought on despite his wound.

Lurtz was mildly surprised, but he calmly made his way down the hill and closer to the action as Boromir, with teeth clenched continued to lay into the horde, slashing another across the shoulder and slamming it in the face with his fist and desperately swiping around to cut the throat of another.

But Lurtz had already drawn a second arrow on his bow string and as Boromir turned back he fire again. Boromir yelled and staggered backwards as the arrow hit into his waist just above his belt. He let out a ragged wheeze of air and his hand flew to the arrow, but the moment he touched it more pain just went jolting through him. He fall down to his knees again, hunched over and chest heaving, every breath filling him with pain as Lurtz let out a louder snarl of triumph this time.

Boromir was blacking out, the arrows had punctured vital organs and he almost kneel over onto his side, but was able to catch himself slightly and maintain his upright position on his knees, sucking in as much air as possible and getting horribly little for each lungful. The Uruks were taking their time now, snarling as they stepped closer. It seemed that the mighty warrior was at last finished.

Merry and Pippin were standing to their spot in horror, their eyes locked on the terrible sight of the wounded Boromir crouched before them, blood seeping from the arrow wounds and soaking into his tunic. Neither of them could think of anything to do, their minds numb at the shock of what they were seeing. And as Boromir crouched there, the two arrows buried deep from him heaving with every motion of his chest, he looked up at the two of them. His eyes met theirs and for a moment they could do nothing but stare at one another with shock and dismay.

But, as Boromir sat there, slowly losing consciousness and blood, a sudden and desperate surge filled him and with one final cry he got back on his feet and whirled around, slower then he would have been able to do otherwise but still catching the closest Uruks off guard. He knew that he was finished now, but while he still had the strength to stand he would not let the Uruks near the halflings.

His sword slashed across the chest of the first Uruk and threw it to the ground, causing another to clumsily trip over its comrade as it swung clumsily at him. Boromir parried the strike almost as clumsily but threw his shoulder forward and caught the stumbling Uruk in the side, knocking him over allowing Boromir to fall on top of him with his sword. Teeth clenched and still gasping Boromir looked up to see another Uruk closing in on him.

Boromir slowly and tried to push himself upwards but right as he did, a third arrow was released from Lurtz' bowstring. This one hit into his chest just beneath his rib cage and this time Boromir had barely any strength left to even gasp. Now with three arrows buried into his chest, he sank slowly to his knees and this time, he knew he would not be able to get back up.

He just sat there, all his remaining energy being taken up just by staying up. He could barely breath and he could feel the blood seeping out of his severe wounds and spilling down his front.

As they saw the man who had valiantly been defending them even after being shot three times crouching there with arrows sticking out of his front, Merry felt grief course through his body, knowing there was nothing any of their could do to save Boromir now. As tears leaked from his eyes he draw his sword and gave a loud battle cry as he turned and run straight towards the on coming Uruks. Pippin quickly followed his lead and the two little Hobbits charged in with swords raised high.

It was futile. Neither of them were great warriors and had survived so far under the protection of the others. Now that the threat had been neutralized, the remaining Uruks could get back to their main mission of taking the Hobbits alive. The first two Uruks that run up did exactly that and seized the two Halflings under one arm before they could do so much as swing their swords. Merry and Pippin were lifted into the air, their swords from their hands were discarded as they were hoisted upwards and onto the shoulders of the Uruks who had grasped them.

The two of them struggled and Merry beat on the back of his captor but it was no use. The Uruks were to strong and man handled the Hobbits with ease as they ran past the wounded Boromir. They knew he was finished now and every single Uruk ran past the Gondorian and charged off into the forest, ignoring him as he sat there and continued to gasp. Out of the corner of his eye, Boromir saw Merry and Pippin yelling and kicking as they were carried away, but he couldn't do anything for them now. He could barely do anything at all.

It seemed to take several minutes for all of the Uruks to run by and Merry and

Pippin were quickly lost to Boromir's sight. This was made all the more horrible for Boromir that this was his second failure today and now he could only watch as his charges were taken away. And soon, the clearing that he had battled hard in was empty except for Boromir himself, the scattered bodies of all the Uruks that he had slain and one single Uruk-hai that was stepping slowly in front of him and come to a stop.

Boromir looked up slowly and found himself looking into the cruel, smirking face and yellow eyes of Lurtz. The two held gazes for several moments as the sounds of the other Uruk-hai faded away into nothingness and it was just them. Lurtz growled lowly to himself, not saying a single word as he draw another arrow to his bowstring and slowly pulled it back. Boromir could only watch as the arrow was aiming for his forehead, and his face twisted into one final pained look of defiance as Lurtz growled goodbye.

And it was at that point that Aragorn crashed into Lurtz' side, taking the Uruk-hai off guard and causing his arrow to fly wide and strike a nearby tree instead as both Aragorn and Lurtz went rolling to the ground and down a slight hill, before they pulled to a stop and scrambled to a stop. Lurtz proved to be very resilient and was back on his feet grabbing a shield and sword from a fallen Uruk and slashing out at Aragorn. Aragorn blocked the strike but the strength of the Uruk leader took him by surprise and he was shoved backwards with great force to crash into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Lurtz roared and flung the pointed shield directly at Aragorn, but the moment he did Mervamon dashed in and batted the shield aside with her sword, sending it catapulting backwards to slam Lurtz across the face and send him reeling. Mervamon gripped her sword and leveled it at Lurtz, leaping into the air and slashing it down with high force. Lurtz managed to roll aside at the last second as the huge sword buried itself in the ground and as Mervamon tried to pull it out, Lurtz lashed out with a fist and caught Mervamon in the jaw.

Mervamon barely flinched. "You call that a punch?" She asked and she backhanded the Uruk with her snake arm and sent him flying across the clearing to crash into another tree trunk with enough force to break the back of any Man. But Lurtz was tough and scrambled back to his feet, lifting his sword.

Boromir stared in shock from where he was still crouched, but he was slowly beginning to blackout now and he collapsed onto his back. Agumon arrived at the scene and saw Boromir on the ground wounded.

"Cutemon! Mervamon! He needs help!" Agumon shouted to them. They turned and saw Boromir on the ground.

"Come Mervamon we have to save him!" Cutemon said as he jump off Mervamon and ran up to Boromir.

Mervamon's head swung over and she grimaced, her eyes widening as she took in the stricken human. She turn to Agumon and Aragorn and said. "Can you two handle the big and ugly over there?" Aragorn and Agumon both nodded and Aragorn left his sword and charged Lurtz with Agumon following behind him. Mervamon turned and bounded over to Boromir, reaching him at the same time that Cutemon did and putting her sword to the ground next to Boromir.

"Are you alright?" She asked him. "Can you still feel anything?"

"Who... who are..." Boromir coughed, but he was barely able to say anything with much effort and he gasped in pain as he continued to lose his strength.

Mervamon could see that this was a bad time to be asking questions so she acted quickly she knew that the arrow wounds needed to be treated quickly but they couldn't do that until they took the arrows out... which is going to hurt. A lot. unless... she raised her snake arm and its forked tongue lashed out and slipped a gap in the hole in Boromir's tunic that the arrow had made to coat his skin around the puncture with saliva.

Boromir winced, but Mervamon said. "It's an anesthetic. It'll numb the pain but this is still going to hurt." She grabbed one of the ribbons hanging from her helmet, bunched it up and shoved it onto Boromir's mouth. "Bite on this so you don't break your teeth." Then, gripping the arrow beneath his rib cage, she yanked it out, barb and all. Boromir let loose a scream of pain, though the effect was minimized by the ribbon in his mouth and it was a good deal less painful than it should have been.

As the wound began to bleed out and Mervamon moved on to the next arrow, Cutmon bounced up next to Boromir and said. "Don't worry! You'll be okay! **SKILLFUL H****EAL!"** He held up his hands over the open wound and an orb of glowing green energy appeared in front of his palms and washed over the wound. Boromir felt... strange and, to his astonishment, he saw the wound beginning to close right before his eyes.

"Be quick, Cutemon!" Mervamon instructed, anesthetizing the wound in Boromir's chest. "His life hangs in the balance."

XXX

Meanwhile, Aragorn, Agumon and Lurtz were engaged in a fight to the death and Aragorn and Agumon were both wary in their fight, Lurtz was still mostly fresh apart from bruising on his back moments ago. Aragorn slash out for Lurtz in three strokes, but Lurtz' blade was there to block it each time and he counter with a swing to the head, Aragorn managed to duck underneath and he saw Lurtz' fist came swinging in moments later to strike him squarely in the side of the face and send him rolling. Agumon help by striking Lurtz with his claws for two slashes, but Lurtz block them and kick Agumon aside that send him rolling.

Lurtz pursued quickly and attempted to slash down at Aragorn but he continued rolling and managed to avoid the strike and push himself to his feet, catching Lurtz' next swing on his own sword and managing to be the one to shove him back a little this time. Aragorn cleaved downwards at his skull but Lurtz parried easily. But it left his legs exposed and allowed Aragorn to kick him in the knee and cause his legs to buckle. However, as Aragorn swung down for the finishing blow Lurtz dropped down and took Aragorn's own legs out from under him, sending both of them rolling several meters before Lurtz got back up and dragged Aragorn up with him.

Before Lurtz is going to slam his head into Aragorn, Agumon got back up and tackle Lurtz from behind. He let go of Aragorn as he drop him on the ground and turn to Agumon to punch him in the face. Agumon block with his claw hands but was push back by the blow. Lurtz charged towards Aragorn to finish him off. But just before the Uruk could deliver the final blow, Aragorn gained enough sense to swing up and block again, allowing him to draw out his dagger from its sheath and stab it into Lurtz' leg.

Lurtz let out a snarl of pain but the dagger did injured him and he punch Aragorn in the face. He pick him up and punch him again and send Aragorn backwards as he was on the ground. Lurtz pull out the dagger out of his leg and lick the blood on the blade. Aragorn looks up and Lurtz throw the dagger at Aragorn. Aragorn pick up his sword and swung the dagger aside.

Lurtz pick up his sword and face Aragorn. Aragorn run in to meet him and keep on striking him as Lurtz try to block all the strikes, but one swing had cut Lurtz' right arm off and Aragorn plunge his sword in his stomach, but Lurtz grab the blade as he pulled Aragorn close to his face. Aragorn pulled the sword out of Lurtz' stomach and swing his sword and cut Lurtz' head as it rolled over in the ground and his body drop dead. Agumon came next to Aragorn after got punch that sent him back. Nearby, Mervamon had pulled out the third and final arrow from Boromir's body and Cutemon was putting all his effort to try and close the wounds. Mervamon look at Aragorn and Agumon have defeated Lurtz.

Aragorn stood there frozen for a second, wondering what these mysterious creatures are. But then a grunt of pain from Boromir jolted him back to what was really important and he dashed over to Boromir and knelt in front of him, Agumon followed and as he was watching as Cutemon held his hands over the arrow wound on his chest.

"Aragorn." Boromir gasped out, choking as he did. "The Hobbits. They took the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin. I couldn't stop them."

Aragorn felt a dull thud in his chest at those words, but for a moment he put them aside and said. "Hold still, Boromir. Everything will be fine."

"No." Boromir gasped. "Frodo! What happened to Frodo? Have you seen him?"

Aragorn paused, well aware of the fact that they were in the presence of three strangers who knew nothing about the Ring, making Frodo a very sensitive topic. Trying not to give much away, he said. "I let him go."

Boromir seemed to attempt a smile but couldn't get his face to stop shuddering. "Then you are a better man than I, Aragorn. I... I tried to... take..."

"Yes." Aragorn interrupted. "I gathered that much from what he told me. But now Frodo has gone and... it is no longer where we can reach it."

"I beg you." Boromir gasped. "To forgive me. I... I couldn't..."

"Boromir." Aragorn pressed heavily. "We shall... discuss this later."

"Please just hold still." Cutemon murmured. "This one is a difficult one."

Aragorn and Boromir both looked down and watch in amazement as the flesh around the small but serious wound on his chest slowly began to heal itself back together.

"Your lucky." Cutemon observed. "If that arrow had been an inch lower it would have pierce you in the heart. But it still managed to get you in the lung so this is delicate."

"Can you heal it, Cutemon?" Mervamon asked.

"Can you do it?" Agumon asked next to Mervamon.

"Give me a moment." Cutemon gritted his teeth and cried out. **"IMMEDIATE HEALING!"**

The small sphere of green light in Cutemon's hands turned into a beam which lanced into Boromir and spread across his whole body, through him and illuminating the Gondorian in a glow, he was astounded as he saw both of his remaining wounds began to close. The intense pain in his chest began to relieve and he was beginning to find it easier to breathe.

The bunny creature was repairing his lungs right before their very eyes! Aragorn was astounded. He had seen the healing magic of Elves before and even knew a lot of their techniques himself, but never before had he seen anything healed as quickly and effectively as this. This was some sort of miracle and, over the course of the next twenty seconds, the pain relieves until, it was as if Boromir had not been shot at all.

Boromir breathed slowly for several seconds, allowing his lungs to fill up and expel air almost as he was testing them both. Everything... had healed. Just like that. The ribs that the arrows had broken had been fixed, the organs that had been pierced were in working order. Boromir was... fine. He had been shot with three arrows and now he was fine.

Cutemon collapsed onto his backside and his ears dropped. "Ugh. That took a lot out of me."

"You did good Cutemon for saving him." Agumon smiled.

"You did well, Cutemon." Mervamon smiled too, reaching across Boromir to scoop up the small pink bunny creature and hold him close. "You did very well indeed."

Aragorn and Boromir glanced at another for several moments before Boromir tried to stand up. He stumbled immediately and Aragorn quickly grabbed him and steadied him, laying him back down on the ground again.

"You need to rest." Cutemon murmured. "I can mend the physical wounds but you still need to regain your strength. And you lost quite a lot of blood and I can't replace that."

"Indeed." Aragorn murmured softly. "But... nevertheless, this is remarkable. Do you feel any pain, Boromir?"

"No." The Gondorian shook his head. "I do still feel drained but... I am whole." He glanced across at Cutemon. "I believe I owe you a debt, small one."

"My name is not small one." Cutemon smiled. "I am Cutemon. And they are my friends Mervamon and Agumon."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Agumon said with a nod.

"We probably could have met under better circumstances." Mervamon chuckled.

"Yes." Boromir nodded. "But still... I do definitely owe you a dept... Cutemon. But, if I may be bold... what are you?"

The three Digimon glanced at one another. And then Cutemon said. "Ever heard of a Digimon?"

"A... no, I have never heard of such a thing." Boromir frowned. "Is that what you are, Cutemon?"

"Yes." Mervamon answered for him. "But it's what I am too. Agumon, Cutemon and I are all Digimon."

"But you three are all different." Aragorn frown deepened. "What exactly is a Digimon?"

"Digimon can take on a near infinite number of shapes and sizes and bodily structures." Mervamon replied. "We are beings that are made of data like you might find in a computer, but we still live and breathe just as you organic humans do."

Mervamon was not sure what kind of response she was expecting but both Aragorn and Boromir had nothing but blank expressions on their faces. They stared at Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon without saying for several moments and then Aragorn murmured. "I am afraid I did not understand many of those words."

"Which ones?" Mervamon frowned, suspicion at something she was already guessing.

"What is data?" asked Boromir. "And what is a computer? And what does organic mean?"

"A computer?" Cutemon asked. "Surely you know what that is. It's like one of those things that you can log onto a machine that has all these files and things like that. And I heard that you can look at this thing called the internet, which helps you loads more files and it's all run on with digital power. That thing?"

Aragorn and Boromir both looked completely bewildered. Mervamon and Agumon both frown. "You really haven't heard of any of that, have you?" Mervamon asked.

"I know that I certainly have not." Said a voice as Legolas emerged through the trees, his sharp Elf hearing having heard most of the conversation. Gimli was following him closely behind, lifting his blood stained axe over his shoulder as the four Fellowship members continued to stare at the Digimon.

"But this is the human world, isn't it?" Cutemon protested. "I thought everyone in the human world had..."

"Cutemon." Mervamon interrupted with Agumon next to her. "I do not believe that this is the human world. At least not the one we know. You are very right, people in the human world would know what a computer is and what data is. The Digital power they were harnessing was the very thing that split our world apart in the first place. But I do not think that this is the world, and if it is we must be in a very remote part of it for people as intelligent as these four to not know what we are talking about."

Cutemon's eyes widened. "Then... does that mean...?"

"I think it does." Mervamon nodded. "We're not in the human world at all."

"But they're humans!" Cutemon cried.

"No we are not!" Aragorn shook his head. "You must have confused us with some other species, for I have never heard of humans either. Legolas here is an Elf, Master Gimli is a Dwarf and Boromir and I are Men."

"Yes, we know you're Men." Cutemon point out. "But you're humans too."

"No, we are definitely Men." Boromir shook his head, still breathing heavily. "I have been a Man all my life."

"But..." Cutemon was now whimpering in confusion.

"What about the females?" Mervamon asked. "If you are Men, what do you call your Women?"

"They are Women." Aragorn nodded. "But they are part of the Race of Men."

Mervamon glared. "That sound very sexist to me. But I believe I understand the problem. You may call yourselves Men in this world, but where we come from, we call you... as in both the men and women of your race, humans. Maybe you should start doing the same thing."

Aragorn and Boromir glanced at one another. "That makes sense, I suppose." Boromir murmured. "It is possible for a race to have many names. Who's to say that we really aren't humans to these... Digimon?"

Aragorn nodded. "And what of the Elves and Dwarves? What do you call them?"

"We don't." Mervamon grimaced. "I never heard of Elves and Dwarves before."

"You have not?" Gimli gruff. "That is outrageous and ridiculous. Never heard of Elves and Dwarves Indeed."

"No, we really haven't." Cutemon shook his head. "We don't even come from this universe."

"It is true." Agumon confirmed. "We are not from this world."

That got the attention of the four members of the Fellowship. They stared at Cutemon and Agumon in bewilderment before Legolas asked what they were thinking. "And where do you all come from then?"

"The Digital World." Mervamon replied. "All Digimon come from that place and as far as I know there are no Elves or Dwarves in it. There are no humans either, but they live in their own universe right next to ours. But not this one. As far as I can tell this is a completely new universe for us."

"But if you are not from this universe then how did you get here?" Legolas questioned.

"I do not know." Mervamon sighed. "It might sound odd, but something strange happened in our universe last night and... a special object that can help to control our world started to act up and... well, suddenly we found ourselves here in this forest, separated from our companions and without a clue where we are."

"We actually landed in the river first." Cutemon shuddered.

"I landed near the river next to them." Agumon said.

"Yes." Mervamon nodded. "We wandered through the forest and followed the course of the river to try and find someone to help and that's when we spotted your boats in the distance. You were the first people we found so we followed you and tried to catch up, hoping that you might be able to give us some answers, but then when we reach your camp we found it was empty and heard the sounds of fighting nearby so we rushed to help and... well, here we are."

"You followed us?" Legolas frowned. "So it must have been you two I caught a glimpse of on the high bank. I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"Probably." Mervamon shrugged. "Sorry that we trailed after you but we finally needed some answers."

Boromir was still lying against the roots of the trees but now he gripped his sword and dug its point into the ground using it to lever himself upwards and clamber slowly and with great effort to his feet. He wobbled slightly and tried to make sure he kept his balance by using his sword like a staff but he was able to stand tall. He set his jaw and said. "Well, I for one believe that you have no reason to be sorry. I am still unsure whether or not your tall tales and strange words can be believed if you had not come when you did then I would most likely be dead now. I owe the three of you my life, and I mean that seriously, upon my Gondorian honor."

He held out his hand and, after a second, Mervamon planted her sword in the ground and grasped it firmly to shake it. "Thank you." She said. "I do not know what Gondorian means but I thank you all the same."

"Me too." Cutemon nodded.

"Same here." Agumon said.

"And allow me to be the one to answer your question." Boromir stated. "This is the land you stand is called Middle Earth. If what you claim is true and you are not from this realm, then may I be the first to welcome you here. I am Boromir, son of Denethor, Prince of Gondor."

"A prince, huh?" Mervamon smirked. "I have never met a prince before, but I am good friends with a princess."

"If that is the case then today you meet two princes for the first time." Legolas nodded. "I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil and Prince of Mirkwood."

"It is our honour." Mervamon smiled and she and Agumon both bowed their heads to both of them, through Mervamon still stood taller than any of them.

"It's nice to meet you two." Agumon said.

Gimli still looked suspicious. "I find it very hard to believe these wild tales of yours. All this talk of other universes sounds quite ridiculous to me. However, if we are introducing ourselves then I am Gimli son of Gloin."

"A pleasure to meet you too." Mervamon through a warm smile his way. Gimli stared at her for a few moments and then looked away and started muttering to himself. Mervamon caught a few words of things like, "Never heard of Dwarves." and "Quite a powerful fighter." She chuckled.

"And I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn." The final member of the Fellowship nodded. "Ranger of the North." The other members of the Fellowship noticed he did not mention his true lineage, knowing that Aragorn did not like talking about it if he did not have to.

"Good to meet all of you." Mervamon and Agumon both nodded. "It sounds like we have a lot to discuss."

"And no time to discuss it in..." Aragorn suddenly pointed out. "Come everyone, we cannot linger. Today's events are still in motion and we must hurry."

XXX

Frodo Baggins was standing on the stony shore at the lake and staring out across the water. The three boats were still lying across the edge of the bank, one half in and half out of the lake and he could see his destination on the far side. He was having one final moment of doubt before he set off. He knew that once he touched foot down on that opposite bank then that would be it. He would well and truly be on his own and the quest for Mordor to destroy the Ring would be his and his alone. Nestled in his palm was the Ring, hooked up to its chain once again and sitting there as a trinket but Frodo could practically feel the evil within it. He had been the bearer of the Ring for so long now as the evil of Middle Earth grew it was as if the Ring was beginning to brand itself into his memory.

Once again the question in his head? Should he stay with the others who might be able to protect him, or should he go on alone and risk the death and betrayal of each of them just as Boromir had tried to take the Ring as well? The prospect of setting out alone still terrified him and now he was remembering Gandalf's death in Moria, plunging into the abyss after being dragged off the Bridge of Khazad-dum by the fire whip of the Balrog.

That happened because Gandalf was trying to protect him. He did not want any of the others to suffer a similar fate.

With Gandalf in his mind, he looked up again, a solitary tear falling down his cheek and streak of water already down the other side of his face, and he could hear one of the last things that he had spoken to the Wizard echoing out the recesses of his memory and to the fore of his mind, which applied in his situation just as much as it had happened.

Flashback

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Frodo said. That had been the last sentence that he had spoken directly to Gandalf apart to scream his name when he had been facing the Balrog. And Gandalf's last words had been one of the last things he had said to Frodo.

"So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. All you have decided is what to do with the time is given to you."

End Flashback

And as Gandalf's soothing words in their kind and gentle tone reverberated through his mind, he knew that now was the time to make the decision and, in reality, he had already made it. He had to stop wasting time. He had no idea what was going on back in the forest but it would not be long before the rest of the Fellowship returned if they had won. And if they had lost then who knew if the Uruk-hai were closing in on him now. He had to leave now.

And so his fingers closed around the Ring and he stuffed it in his breast pocket, ignoring the tears still slowly running down his face and stepping across the stoney bank with his thick, hairy bare feet and grabbed the boat already half in the lake and heaved it forwards and into the water, bounding into it as he did so and almost effortlessly pushing the large boat out the lake it was a Elven boat after all. He pick up the oar with the leaf like paddle and plunged it into the water and began to steer the boat out and towards the far bank

And then, before he had got ten meters out, the sound he had least been waiting to hear reached his sharp ears. It was Sam. Somehow the faithful Hobbit had managed to avoid all the Uruks and all the fighting in general in his mad search for Frodo and now he was dashing out of the trees and onto the bank and Frodo could picture the look of horror and distress on his face as he cried. "Frodo! No!"

Sam ran right down the bank until his feet crashed into the water but Frodo's boat was already to far out for him to reach and he pulled to a stop with a desperate yell. "Frodo! Mister Frodo!"

"No, Sam." Frodo said over his shoulder without turning to look, just loud enough for Sam to hear. Frodo knew that looking back at him now would only make things worse and he could not bear to see the look on Sam's face. So he just kept rowing.

And then a splashing sound quickly changed that thought and Frodo looked back in alarm, to see Sam had started wading out into the river and after him. He was almost up to his waist already and such was his determination to get to Frodo and stay with his best friend that he seemed to have completely forgotten that there were two other boats on the shore which he could use himself.

"Go back Sam!" Frodo cried, but Sam ignored him and continued to wade out into the river forcefully and with purpose written across his face. "I'm going to Mordor alone."

"Of course you are." Sam shouted, continuing to wade deeper. "And I'm coming with you!" He was already up to his chest now and was getting deeper.

Frodo felt panic rising in his chest. "You can't swim!" He yelled back he knew this fact fully well having known Sam for most of his life. And as he watched Sam waded completely out of his depth and started to try and pull himself through the water with his arms, but already he was having difficulty. There was very little need for Hobbits of Hobbiton to learn how to swim and Sam's heavy cloak and gear was already weighing him down.

"Sam!" Frodo shouted, watching in horror as his best friend spluttered and floundered in in the lake and desperately tried to pull himself along, but only succeeded in going forwards and few feet and sinking deeper in the process. After a few agonizing seconds, his head went under and despite his lack of progress, the lake got very deep very quickly.

"Sam!" Frodo hollered in panic, dropping the oar and leaning over the side, trying to see the sunken Hobbit.

Under the waves, Sam was struggling and thrashing with his arms to try and get himself back to the surface kicking his legs feebly as his Elven cloak billowed upwards in the water above him, refusing to sink as fast as the rest of him. Having inhaled a lungful of water on entry, Sam found himself with very little oxygen to breathe in his lungs and as he struggled harder to gain some height and get to the surface he just couldn't do it. He was losing energy fast and bubbles were coming out of his mouth from time to time as he fought the urge to try and inhale and merely sunk in more water. Sam had no idea how long he was down there for, but after a mere twenty seconds and he was already nearly at a standstill. The cloak sank around him and he began to lose consciousness as his brain began to stop function properly due to the sudden lack of oxygen. He could already feel his eyes slowly beginning to close, the light of the sun flickering through the water above him and filtering into his eyes. He was, in reality, still not that far from the surface. He just couldn't reach it.

One hand was held upwards feebly trying vainly to reach the air.

And then another hand plunged into the water from above and seized Sam by the wrist. After a second, Sam's brain kicked into gear and he grabbed the wrist back and Frodo yanked upwards and hauled Sam to the surface again. Sam sputtered and coughed almost immediately and spat out water to replace it with the life giving air as Frodo, leaning towards the other side of the boat to try and balance the sopping wet Hobbit tumbling into the boat.

Sam quickly fought off his sudden near death experience and, still gasping for breath and choking, he pushed himself upwards and knelt in front of Frodo with their eye level. "I made a promise Mister Frodo. A promise: Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee." He sputtered out, repeating what Gandalf had told him on that day the two Hobbits had set out from their homes to begin this very quest. And then he repeated what he had promised to Frodo when he told him what Gandalf had said for the first time.

"And I don't mean to. I don't mean to."

"Oh Sam." Frodo almost whimpered and, ignoring the fact that Sam was wet through, he pulled the younger Hobbit into a hug which Sam returned. Sam was choking slightly, but the two Hobbits held one another close. And in that moment, Frodo knew absolutely that he couldn't just send Sam back to the other bank. And he could not just leave him behind. Having Sam as a companion would put him in danger, but Frodo couldn't stand to break his faithful companion's heart.

Not now and not ever. Sam would stay with him until the quest ended.

Nevertheless, they still had to leave before the rest of the Fellowship arrived, so Frodo pulled out of the hug and said. "Come on." Sam nodded and the two of them reached for an car each and quickly settled into place in the boat, steering their way to the far side. They were heading right towards danger and both of them knew it, but they also knew that whatever hardships they would face in the future they would face it with the other by their side.

XXX

It was not the two Hobbits had reached the opposite bank and had clambered out of the boat, which had thankfully contained all of Sam's gear like his cooking equipment just as it had contained Frodo's things, the rest of the Fellowship arrived back at their campsite. Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon were still with them and Legolas immediately spotted the two Hobbits stepping into the forest on the other side.

"Look!" He cried, pointing as he did so. "Frodo and Sam are on the eastern shore! They have left without us!"

The Elf hurried towards one of the boats, but Aragorn raised a hand and said. "No, Legolas. Stay yourself. Frodo is no longer up to us."

"Aragorn." Legolas almost gasped, and it was hard to make Legolas gasps for any reason. "Are you saying that we do not follow them?"

"Yes." Aragorn said simply. "From now on, the quest belongs to Frodo and Sam alone."

Gimli looked similarly stunned. "You would let those two Halflings go it alone into the heart of..."

"Enough, Gimli." Aragorn cut across him, glancing at Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon who were still not knowing to what is going on. "Let the matter rest."

Boromir's eyes were locked on Frodo's retreating back and, for a brief moment, he felt a sudden urge to jump in the nearest boat and chase after him, but before the idea could take root he turned his eyes away from the Hobbits and stared down at the ground, gasping for breath. The recovered but still weakened man was leaning on Mervamon for support, but he now pushed himself away and stood upright by himself.

"I agree with Aragorn." He nodded firmly, trying to purge himself of the last of the influence the Ring had on him. "Frodo has his reasons and... from what I have seen... what I have done... they are good reasons. We must let them be now."

Aragorn turned to Boromir and allowed a small smile to grace his face, knowing that statement was a triumph for Boromir considering what had happened earlier. The Gondorian man wobbled towards his shield, which would have been of immense help in the previous battle if he had remembered to bring it and slung it across his back.

"I..." He murmured. "I failed you all. I failed Frodo. I failed Gandalf. I failed Merry and Pippin. I... I failed myself."

Legolas and Gimli looked bemused but Aragorn gave Boromir a comforting look and said. "You are not the first to be taken in under its influence, Boromir. Isildur did before you."

"And yet you succeeded." Boromir signed. "You are a far better man than I could ever be, Aragorn."

"No, Boromir." Aragorn shook his head. "I am no greater than you. You fought against overwhelming odds and were it not for one Orc with his bow and arrow I believe you would have triumphed."

"And yet I did not." Boromir signed. "It is a miracle that I am still alive. Everything I have ever accused of you, Aragorn, I take it back now. You will make a great King and I will follow you to the ends of Middle Earth and beyond."

"Excuse me?" Mervamon blinked. She could tell they were talking about something which they were trying to keep secret from from her and she knew she had no business asking what it was so she didn't, but Boromir's last sentence caught her attention. "King? You are a King?"

Agumon heard Mervamon said King which shock him. "Is that true?"

Aragorn looked uncomfortable and said nothing, but Legolas nodded and said. "Not yet. But he is the rightful King of the country of Gondor by blood."

"Oh that's so cool!" Cutemon grinned.

"This your first time meeting a King, I take it?" Gimli snorted.

"Actually no." Cutemon grinned. "One of my best friends is a King, King Shoutmon of the Digital World."

That answer took Gimli off guard and he fell into silence.

"I do not much like to speak of my birthright." Aragorn said a little stonily, "And I would appreciate it if we let the matter rest. I thank you for your words and your sentiment Boromir."

Boromir barely seemed to hear him for several moments. "What are we supposed to do now? Sauron's power is great. Too great. The world of my people and our race will fall into darkness under his control. He will lay waste to everything before him, and we will all succumb to the darkness sooner or later... as I did." He shuddered and gasped his head. "What we are meant to do now that the quest is no longer belongs to us?"

Aragorn grimaced. "No, Boromir. We shall oppose Sauron with every ounce of strength we can muster. We will make sure of that. I promise you. And thanks to the actions of those brave strangers, you are still alive to carry on Gondor's legacy and now free from the burden of the quest, we can begin our own campaign. You will be able to do what you wished to do most and defend the White City. And we shall be by your side as you do so."

Boromir looked heartened. "Perhaps the Lady Galadriel was right." He murmured. "Perhaps there maybe hope after all. Especially with Gondor's true King back at the front lines at long last."

Aragorn did not make any comment on that for several seconds, but then Gimli stepped forward and said. "And what of the two other Hobbits in our company? Last we knew they were still alive. Our efforts on this quest appear to have been in vain, but what are we supposed to do about them?"

"I would have thought the answer is simple." Aragorn said firmly. "We go after them. Frodo might not be under our care any longer but our Fellowship has not fallen yet and until I see their dead bodies I will not give up hope that it has. We must remain strong and go after them. We will not abandon them, no matter what."

"A noble statement." Mervamon nodded approvingly. She stepped forward and said. "If I may be bold, may Cutemon, Agumon and I join you on your hunt for your lost companions?"

There was several moments of silence. All four members of the Fellowship were staring at the three Digimon with suspicion. Aragorn eventually cleared his throat and said. "We thank you for the offer Mervamon but... you must understand that we know very little about you. None of us have ever seen anything like you in our world and you claim that you are not from it at all. But we only have your word to go on it."

Mervamon scowled. "You are saying that you do not trust us?"

"It is difficult to determine." Aragorn admitted. "If you are truly creatures of good then I apologize for this... but these are dark times. The darkest of times in over two thousand years. Evil is abroad in this land and those Uruk-hai we fought back there were mild in comparison to some of the powers of evil that exist, serving under the Dark Lord Sauron. How are we to know that you are what you claim to be at all."

Mervamon's scowl reminds in place but she said. "Fair point. But we do not even know who this Sauron you've been mentioning even is. We have heard of him no more than we've heard of Gondor or these other places and people you keep mentioning."

"I understand that but again I can only take you at face value." Aragorn nodded. "And the spies of the enemy can come in many forms."

"You think we could be spies?" Cutemon looked so hurt by the accusation that Aragorn wanted to take it back almost immediately, but he refrained from doing so.

Agumon frown and said. "We do not work for evil, we only serve our King, our adviser and our Generals."

"With black magic in this world, many things are possible." He said. "Tell me, why do you want to come with us?"

"As we said, we are not from around here." Mervamon replied. "Neither of us have the foggiest idea where we are, or which direction to go in to reach anything else. You are the first beings we saw since we arrived here and I feel it would be better for the both of us if we were to stick with people who are more likely to know where they are going and what they are doing than simply wandering aimlessly in this forest until we finally stumble upon something."

"Yeah and there's more." Cutemon added. "There's all our friends as well."

"It's true." Agumon confirmed. "We believe all are friends are scattered all over this world."

"Friends?" Legolas frowned. "There are more of you here?"

"We believe so." Mervamon nodded. "When the... event... that caused us to fall into this Middle Earth occurred, most of our friends in the court of King Shoutmon were present. I have little reason to believe that Cutemon, Agumon and I are not the only ones who were transported here. I have a feeling... that this world received quite a few new arrivals yesterday. Unfortunately, we have no idea where they are either. Perhaps if we travel with you we will discover some sign or hear some news about them which may help us to find them again."

"And they all like you, are they?" Gimli asked gruffly.

"They are all Digimon, yes." Mervamon chuckled. "But most of them... are very much like us. Digimon can come in many, many shapes, after all."

"There appearance and size are all very different than us." Agumon said with a smile.

"I... see..." Aragorn murmured .

"But many of us are very powerful." Mervamon went on. "And while I am not in possession of all the facts, its plain to see that there is some form of evil trying to take over your world, correct? Well, perhaps we could be some help."

"Why would you help us so suddenly?" Boromir asked. "If what you said is true then you know as little about us as we do to you. Why to you trust us?"

"Because we help out those who need it." Mervamon said. "It's what we do. It's what King Shoutmon and his friends stand for. It doesn't matter who they are as long as they're the good guys if they need help then we will do all we can to give it to them."

Aragorn stared at them for a couple of moments and then said. "Would you allow us to discuss this amongst ourselves for a moment?"

"Of course." Mervamon nodded and stepped away. The four Fellowship members grouped together and Legolas kept a close eye on the three Digimon just in case they tried something.

"We don't know if any of what those three have just told us is true." Gimli pointed out gruffly. "How can we trust them? They appeared right out of nowhere and right about the same time that the Uruk-hai did. It smells a little funny to me."

"Great forces are at work here." Legolas nodded. "Forces far greater than us. I do know that much. The only question is what do we do next?"

"Well, I for one think that we can trust them." Boromir said quietly. "I see no reason why a minion of Sauron or any other servant of evil would go to such lengths to aid us. I was on the brink of death and yet the two of them work together to restore me back to heal my wounds right before my eyes. I cannot fathom how they, especially the small one, could possibly be evil."

"The servants of the enemy do often look fair." Aragorn mused. "That much is true. And yet they also feel foul. I am torn. I do believe that what Boromir says is true, for a creature of evil to heal a wounded man even to get into the graces of those who are good does not sound... right."

"Servants of Sauron can be cunning." Gimli pointed out. "It would be the last thing that we expected, wouldn't it?"

"Why are you so keen not to trust them, Master Dwarf?" Legolas asked curiously.

"I am not!" Gimli snorted. "I merely believe we should consider all the facts. I could also point out that Mervamon and Agumon both did kill the two Orcs that were about to drop on me. But if they're going to be coming with us then we must be sure."

"That is true." Boromir nodded quietly. "But I'll stand by what I said before. I think that we can trust them. They certainly do not feel foul, either of them."

"I thought the same." Aragorn agreed. "I have seen many minions of Sauron and none of them have felt like those three. It is strange. Legolas, Gimli, what would you decide to do?"

"I have no idea." Gimli sighed. "Their story sounds absolutely ridiculous to me and yet there's a small part of me that... wants to believe them. And not in that deceptive dark way of fell magicians either. That Mervamon is very fair indeed, even if she does have fangs and a giant snake for a arm. Agumon is also a fighter and even he is some kind of dragon. What about you, Master Elf?"

Legolas shut his eyes for several moments and a slight breeze blew back his long blond hair. And then he said. "I believe them."

"And why would that be?" Aragorn asked.

"Do you not remember what I told you, Aragorn?" Legolas asked. "In this very place earlier today? Last night I felt an incredibly strange disturbance in the fabric of reality and suddenly here are three strange creatures we never heard of before claiming that they woke up to find themselves here this very morning. The disturbance did feel close and it felt large. It does fit together in some obscure way."

Aragorn nodded quietly, digesting this. He did indeed remember Legolas telling him something like that, and of all of them he was included to trust Legolas' instincts the most.

"Besides." Legolas added with a smile. "That Cutemon is just to cute to be a servant of evil."

Aragorn actually laughed out loud at this, and that made up his mind for him. He turned back to the three Digimon and said. "Very well then. I am not usually inclined to accepting the company of strangers I meet in the wilds but if you wish, you may come with us. We could use your talents again in the future, I am sure, if what you say is true and you would be willing to help."

"Of course it's true." Mervamon said firmly.

"We are indeed a long way from most forms of habitation." Aragorn nodded. "Somebody could get lost in these forests for weeks if they did not know where they are going. You can come with us. But your friends, what do they look like?"

"Oh, I could be here all day describing what they look like to you." Mervamon chuckled.

"There is a lot of them." Cutemon nodded.

"Some of them are bigger and some of them are smaller." Agumon said with a smile.

"Very well." Aragorn supplied. "We can discuss things more on the run, for we must now make haste. This altercation will have allowed those Uruk-hai to gain a valuable lead on us and we must hurry if we are to catch up with them."

"Got it." Mervamon smirked, opening her palm and causing her big sword to vanish into mid air. Aragorn was momentarily startled but then he put it aside and said. "And what of you, Boromir? Will you come with us, or will you now return to your city to try and defend it?"

Boromir hesitated and looked of south for a moment, where he knew his city of Minas Tirith to be but eventually he looked back and said. "As I said, I would follow you and I meant it. Right now the Halflings are in more immediate danger than Gondor. And I would not break up this Fellowship any more than it has been broken."

"Can you run, Boromir?" Legolas asked.

"I will mange." The stubborn pride of the Gondorian appeared to be returning.

"Hooray!" Cutemon cheered. "We're going to be alright then."

"The same cannot be said for those Uruk things." Mervamon nodded with a smirk. "Let's get going then."

"I am right with you guys." Agumon was filled with determination.

Aragorn nodded and then gave Legolas a significant look. They still did not completely trust the Digimon and Legolas caught Aragorn's meaning quickly. Then Aragorn turned back around and said. "Then we shall leave all that we can spare here, we cannot be weighed down. Now... let's hunt some Orcs!" And he turned and pelted off into the forest without another word. Gimli let off a roar of approval and dashed after him. Boromir pulled his horn, which he had just noticed had been split in two at some point during his battle and he had not realized it, off his belt and threw it to the ground before taking in a deep breath and summoning his strength to run after the Dwarf and the King, Mervamon and Agumon both instantly falling in step behind him. Cutemon hang on Mervamon's helmet as they were running. Legolas brought up the rear, bow in hand just in case Mervamon and Agumon both decided to try anything, but despite their new arrival and slight suspicion that remained there was also a sense of comradeship in the air that almost drowned it out. For better or for worse, Legolas knew, the fate of Middle Earth was changing.

XXX

**Now Mervamon, Cutemon and Agumon have joined the members of the Fellowship and Boromir have survive from his injuries.**

**Next will be Ballistamon's group in Emyn Muil**

**Next time Chapter 10 Need a Heavy Speaker.**


	10. Ch 10 Need a Heavy Speaker

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 10 Need a Heavy Speaker **

**XXX **

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Normally Ballistamon could tune out the pounding sound that his own wide and oblong feet made whenever he took a step forward. He knew that he was quite a heavy Digimon for his size and because of that he was certainly not what you would call light foot. But he had grown so used to the sound of his footsteps that he barely noticed them whenever he moved anywhere.

Except for now.

Now, it was beginning to get rather tedious. Not because it was an annoying, but mostly because it was about the only sound that there was in this environment and it was being practically magnified by the huge walls of rock that almost always on either side of him. He had been walking around these seemingly unending labyrinth of passage ways and rocks for hours and hours now and it seemed that each direction he took only seemed to have more maze.

Ballistamon was a machine-type Digimon and that meant that he had pretty good sense of direction. He was sure that he was not walking in circles. He was pretty sure that he had been traveling in a straight line, or at least as much of a straight line as you could get in these winding crevices. Now, he was walking up the side of an enormous slope and out into a more relatively open area, trying to gain some altitude so that he could have a look around and find out where he was. And his own heavy footfalls were now seriously beginning to get on his nerves. And he was a Digimon with considerable patience.

The three red Monitamons were still following on behind their larger companion. They had partially scaled the rocks face and were hurrying along as best as they could across the ledge, using their ninja skills to leap across gaps that seemed to be much too large for a being of their size and structure.

It was not easy for them. Monitamons prided themselves on being ninja Digimon but the fact remained that their body design was not... the best design for a ninja. The large television set that they had for a head was, for one thing, no help at all in balance and there were several moments where one of the Monitamons would stumble and almost fell off and have to be caught by his companions before something happened.

Fortunately they had been without nasty fall so far.

The three Monitamons were, significantly better then they had been in the days of the war against the Bagra Army. They had an additional seven years to practice, after all. But unfortunately, when it came to other Monitamons, they were still often very much out of their league.

But they did their best just the same.

None of them said anything. They just followed Ballistamon in silence, trying to locate a way out of this maze of boulders just as he was and not particularly succeeding.

As Ballistamon scaled up the hill, the three Monitamons bounded up ahead to gain some more altitude, leaping off the boulders and onto the slope as they climbed higher up. One of them tripped on a large rock and went rolling several times but managed to pick himself upwards quickly and press on without much of a pause.

Behind them, Ballistamon's feet slipped on the loose slope and he slid backwards several feet, only to throw his thick hands outwards and buried his metallic fingers underneath the pebbles and grit, anchoring him in place for a moment, before he hauled himself back upright and continued on.

"We could do with Sparrowmon or Biyomon right now." Ballistamon murmured to himself. And once again he wondered where the heck are Sparrowmon and Biyomon are or any of the others for that matter. It was like everyone of their friends had vanished of the face of the Digital World. And Ballistamon, like many of the other members of the Fusion Fighters, was also beginning to suspect that perhaps they, along with himself, actually had. And that this was not the Digital World. He had yet to find any concrete proof of that, given that he had not seen any form of life since he'd got here beside the Monitamons. But he was pretty sure that was the case.

The Monitamons gain the summit and looked around them with their eyeless screens. "Oh no!" Monitamon R2 muttered. "We're not even close to finding a way out of this place."

"Is there no end to it?" Monitamon R1 agreed as all three of them looked around and saw pretty much nothing but rocks, rocks and more rocks, with aside order of boulders and extra helping of cliff no matter which direction they turned their gaze.

"There must be an end to it somewhere." Monitamon R3 protested. "There must be. Where are all the cities and the villages and the lakes and stuff like that? There can't just be rocks here."

"Where wherever they are." Monitamon R1 shrugged. "They're not anywhere close by and that's for sure."

Ballistamon reach the top with them. "See anything?" He asked in his grunting voice as he stood as tall as his cube-like body could, his large blue horn raising into the air like lightning rod.

"Nope." Monitamon R3 shook his headset. "Just more and more labyrinth."

"This is certainly a big place then." Ballistamon muttered. "I don't know of any place like it in the Digital World. Though I haven't traveled through as much of it as some of the others. speaking of the others, any sign of them?"

"No." All three Monitamons said at the same time.

Ballistamon sighed. Somehow. "Well, there's not much that we can do except keep walking then, In the same direction. If we go in a straight line then we'll have to come out somewhere. Eventually."

"I hope that it's soon." Monitamon R2 grumbled. "My feet are killing me and we've been walking around for hours."

"Have you guys tried contacting the other Monitamons?" Ballistamon asked.

"Yeah." Monitamon R3 nodded. "They're out of range. We can't connect with them."

"I'm beginning to wish that we had kept using the wristers." Ballistamon muttered. The little devices had come in handy in the fight against Bagramon but none of the members of the Fusion Fighters had been using them recently because for the most past they were all together and rarely separated. When someone was going off on a solo mission, Shoutmon would instruct them to take either a wrister or one of one of the Monitamons with them depending on how far they were going, but there hadn't been any solo missions for a while.

Now, all the writers were stored in Ballistamon's chest compartment. He had not exactly had the opportunity to distribute them before they had been whisked away. And it would have been much more useful to them if he had.

But dwelling on what would have been helpful if the circumstances had been different was not going to get them anywhere and Ballistamon took a couple of steps forward to continue along his current trajectory and back into the maze...

But then there was very distant but very distinct rumbling noise which caused him to halt in his tracks. He half expected the hillside to start shaking, but it didn't. The three Monitamons noticed it too and they each threw out their arms, expecting the same reaction, as if certainly sounded like some earthquake event or at least a deep rumble of thunder. But there was nothing.

"What was that?" Monitamon R3 asked nervously, looking around them.

"I don't know, I don't like it here." Monitamon R2 added. "I really want to get out of these rocks. I much prefer trees."

"Me too." Monitamon R1 nodded. He then look around behind them and pointed. "Look! Look! It must have been that!"

Ballistamon and the other two Monitamons turned around. In the distance behind them they could see what appeared to be some kind of mountain range beyond the rocks, although looking at them more closely they could see that these mountains were darker, so dark they were almost black as opposed to the pale grey of rocks of the labyrinth. And, just visible over the peaks of black were flashes of deep, bright red and orange, rising briefly over the tops and then falling back down to the ground. Like...

"Lava." Ballistamon muttered. "Just like in the Magma Zone back in old times. It must be a volcano."

"A volcano?" Monitamon R1 repeated nervously. "That must be one heck of a volcano if we can hear it's eruptions from this distance away."

"Uh-ha." Ballistamon agreed with a nod of his head.

"Weren't the other Digimon in the Magma Zone?" Monitamon R3 asked. "Maybe we should go that way instead."

But the more the four of them looked at the dark mountains which were probably covered in ash from the volcano, the deeper their feeling of foreboding became.

It was very difficult to send a shiver down Ballistamon's spine considering he had not actually got a spine, but somehow those dark mountains and whatever lay beyond them managed to do it.

"Nuh-uh." He shook his head again. "I think that we should keep going the way we have been going. Besides, it seems to get a little more open direction. Maybe we can find a way out."

"Yes... right." The Monitamons all mumbled amongst themselves, also suppressing shudders at the slight of those mountains. As they turned to follow Ballistamon when the machine Digimon made his way down the other side of the hill they had just climbed, there was another flare up of orange from over the mountains, as the volcano that lay beyond it was telling the four Digimon that they had made the right decision and warning them to not change their minds, or else.

"This sure as heck is one creepy place." Monitamon R3 muttered to himself as they moved on, all of them unconsciously speeding up at least until the mountains were out of sight again. And once again, they were surrounded by enormous, jagged rocks and alleyways that jutted up to the sky like huge, blunt spearheads.

And they just press on, letting the silence, except for the thunking sound of Ballistamon's feet, flow over them once again.

XXX

The place was called Emyn Muil, and as Gimli has said to Aragorn it was a veritable labyrinth of rock and stone with almost no lite in it. It was, in place, also filled with a very dense fog which only made it more difficult for anyone to find their way through the place. It was small wonder that there seemed to be little that lived here.

And now, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, the two Hobbits who had only recently left the company of the rest of the Fellowship and thus escaped from the attack of the Uruk-hai, were trying to pass through.

And needless to say, they were not finding it easy. Not by a long shot.

For starters, neither of them really knew where they were going anymore. Gandalf and Aragorn between them had been their guides during the journey so far, as both of them had wandered far and wide across Middle Earth and knew their way through the toughest of terrains. Frodo doubted that any Hobbit had ever set foot in this rocky maze before, and they only knew the vague direction they were meant to be going in towards Mordor in the East now.

Right now, they were on the side of a cliff and slowly making their way down, using the length of Elven Rope that had been given to Sam by the Lady Galadriel. Frodo had gone first and was slowly trying to climb his way down the cliff, looking over his shoulder and his eyes trying to pierce through the thick layer of fog beneath him.

He was also having to force the extremely vivid dream he had last night out of his mind. He had dream that they were back in Moria, with Gandalf on the Bridge of Khazad-dum and facing the Balrog once again, only this time when he had fallen off, Frodo's perception had fallen with him, and he had watched as Gandalf engaged the fire and shadow Demon in a death-match as both of them fell through the chasm, with the Balrog desperately flailing its huge wings and trying to get some form of control, but being unable to due to the fact it was tumbling over and over uncontrollably, kept smashing into the sides of the chasm and had a Wizard repeatedly hitting it in the chest with a sword.

"Can you see the bottom?" Sam shouted, from where he was climbing down above him.

"No!" Frodo called back. "Don't look down, Sam! Just keep going!"

Sam was not fond of heights at all and he was desperately hoping that the knot he had tied around the boulder at the top of the cliff would hold. It was times like this where he really wished that he was still in the Shire, but he too had to force that out of his mind and try to keep climbing down the thin rope. Almost as soon as he did so, the rope seemed to slide downwards a little and Sam lost his footing. Fortunately, he was able to hold on with his hands, but his front slammed rather painfully into the cliff face. And, as he did so, a small wooden box that could fit into the palm of his hand slipped from a pocket and fell.

Sam spotted it and practically yelped. "Catch it! Grab it, Mister Frodo!"

Frodo looked up and saw the box bounce off an outcropping and drop down to his left. He extended a hand and caught the thing, but a moment later his own feet slipped off the edge of the cliff. And since he was only holding on with one hand, he lost his grip on the rope and yell of fear he plummeted down the side of the cliff.

"Mister Frodo!" Sam screamed as he looked down in horror.

Frodo fell uncontrollably... for about four feet. This was still a long fall for a Hobbit, but he was able to catch himself and stay on his feet, through the unexpected early impact did knock him for a loop for a couple of seconds. "I think I found the bottom!" He called back up as he looked around. It seemed the fog layer had only been so thick that Frodo still couldn't see it. Sam, filled with relief, hurriedly made his way down the rest of the rope until, eventually, he was standing on firm ground once again as well.

"Bogs and rope and goodness knows what." Be grumbled to himself as be stepped away from the cliff. "It's not natural. None of it."

He stepped closer to Frodo and saw him examining the tiny wooden box, which had a miniature clasp holding it shut and an oak-leaf like pattern on the life. "What's in this?" Frodo asked curiously. He was not angry he knew that Sam could be very attached to the things that he owned, just as he was very attached to the people he liked.

"Nothing." Sam muttered, getting very embarrassed that he had asked Frodo to catch the thing and had probably caused him to slip off at all. "Just a bit of seasoning. I thought... maybe it we were having a roast chicken one night of something?"

Frodo stared at Sam in amazement. "Roast chicken?" He almost laughed.

Sam shrugged, though he too knew full well that there was a distinct lack of chicken available to eat. "You never know." He muttered.

"Sam." Frodo shook his head in amusement. "My dear Sam." He flipped open the clasp on the box and opened it to see the trick, white seasoning inside.

"It's very special, that." Sam proclaimed trying to justify it to his companion. "It's the best salt in all the Shire."

Frodo stared at it, new feeling slightly sad. "It is special." He agreed, closing the lid and handing it back to Sam. "It's a little bit of home."

He moved past Sam and the other Hobbit sighed, both of them filled with memories of the Shire, the lovely green country they had grown up in. It was certainly a fair cry from this dull and dreary pile of rocks they were in now.

"We can't leave this here for someone to follow us down." Frodo remarked, staring at the rope.

"Who's going to follow us down here, Mister Frodo?" Sam asked, not seeing the slightly haunted and edgy look that Frodo now had on his face as they both stared up at the rope. Sam sighed as he stowed the salt box back in his pocket. "It's a shame really. Lady Galadriel gave me that. Real Elvish Rope. Well, there's nothing for it. It's one of my knots. It won't come free in a hurry."

Sam did pride himself in his skill with certain domestic task. Gardening was the top of his list, but his ability to tie a knot, was close to it. He grabbed the rope and jerked it to demonstrate the futility to trying to pull it down. To his surprise, the knot at the top of the cliff immediately came undone and the entire coil of rope slid over the side and dropped down to land in a heap right at his feet.

"Real Elvish Rope." Frodo smirked.

Sam stared in bewilderment at the rope in his hand and then back up at the cliff. It seemed that the Elves still had plenty of surprises up their sleeves even if there wasn't an Elf for miles.

XXX

Hours passed, and the two Hobbits kept on walking. They managed to find a thin, winding river through the rocks that was more like a stream than anything else and they refilled their water flasks there, and then they continued to press on into the unknown, clambering up a large hill with a similar intention of trying to make sure that they were going in the right direction. Sam's large equipment of pots and pans tied to his pack weighed him down, but the Hobbit was sturdy and resilient and voiced no complaint.

When they reached the summit, they found themselves looking out over the towering rocks, and like others before them, they could see the huge dark clouds in the sky above it constantly, and sparks of red lightning seemed to flash across the sky in places on the other side. Or perhaps that was the volcano in action. That was the very volcano that they were trying to get to and it seemed that no matter how far they walked it did not get any closer.

"Mordor." Sam mutter through clenched teeth. "The one place in Middle Earth that we don't want to see any closer. And it's the one place we're trying to get to." He lifted his pack further up his back and sighed. "It's just where we can't get."

He turned to his fellow Hobbit, his face grim. They might know what direction they were supposed to be going in now, but the enormous crags and gullies all around them made planning a route towards it completely impossible. Straight wasn't an option. It would be impossible to go in straight line for more than a few meters in this place.

"Let's face it, Mister Frodo." He said. "We're lost."

Frodo most certainly did not want to admit it. They were only a day away from Aragorn and the others and they already didn't have a clue what they were meant to do. Frodo knew little of Mordor. All he knew was that its main entrance was a big Black Gate, that it had the volcano Mount Doom and the tower of Barad-dur and that it was the domain of Sauron. That was pretty much it. He didn't have the first clue how to go about finding the gate, let alone anything else.

"I don't think Gandalf meant for us to come this way." Sam remarked sadly.

The dream from last night slammed into Frodo's mind again. "He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam." He pointed out, his voice laden with suppressed grief. "But they did."

Sam sighed again and turned away, but then, suddenly, a pull of darkness seemed to be dragged inexorably in the direction of flashing lights we could now see were indeed red lightning and orange lava. There was a sensation that Frodo wouldn't know how to describe, like something in him was pulling him straight towards Mordor and then there was a jolt, the feeling of a sharp presence in his mind and one that was not his own.

Sauron.

Perhaps the Eye had somehow spotted him or it merely sensed that he was getting closer, but the result was the same. Frodo suddenly felt weak and half-collapsed, planting himself on a rock to keep from falling over completely and gasping for breath as the feeling of evil left him.

"Mister Frodo?" Sam asked in alarm, staring as Frodo sat there, breathing heavily and staring at the ground, unwilling to look in the direction of Mordor. Sam did not need to be told what had happened though. He was certainly not an idiot. "It's the Ring, isn't it?"

"It's getting heavier." Frodo gasped, answering Sam's question indirectly. The Ring was constantly calling out. It too wanted to get to Mordor, but for completely different reason and it seemed that as long as he held it, Sauron's very presence seemed close. Frodo reached up and gasped the front of his shirt at the point where they both knew the Ring now hung from the chain around his neck.

Sam knew that this was a good time as any to take a break so he unslung his pack and sit down, looking around inside it. Frodo took a swig from his flask and muttered. "What food have we got left?"

"Well, let me see." Sam murmured, pulling out the first item, a wafer of something mostly wrapped in a green material that looked like a large leaf. "Oh yes, lovely, Lembas bread. And look!" He reach back into the bag and pulled out something else. "More Lembas bread."

Frodo couldn't stop himself from smiling at Sam's exasperation. Hobbits, as a rule, like food to be regular, varied and good. But it seemed that the Lembas bread was the only thing they had, which was something they were going to have to put up with for a while. Nevertheless, it was a useful thing to have. Lembas bread was made by the Elves and was specially designed to be travel rations. One little bite was enough to fill the stomach of a hungry traveler, which meant that you could live for weeks on a couple of slices. which was a good thing, because it seemed a couple of slices was just about all they had left.

Sam broke off a piece and tossed it to Frodo, before taking another piece. Both of them bit into it and instantly felt themselves gaining renewed energy the moment they swallowed.

"I don't usually hold with foreign food." Sam started. "But this Elvish stuff... It's not bad."

Frodo smiled. "Nothing ever dampens your spirits does it, Sam?"

Sam couldn't resist smiling back. But a distance rumble of thunder caught his attention and when he look back up he grimaced and said. "Those rain clouds might."

XXX

The rain hit them hard a short time later, pouring down in torrents. Both of the Hobbits knew that this would be a very good point to stop. They were lost as it was. Heading into rocky labyrinth with vision further obscured by rain which was also making everything slippery would be a very bad idea. So they sought what shelter they could under a rocky overhang, which wasn't much, pulled up their hoods and waited for it to stop.

During the downpour, Frodo had the horrible sensation that they were being watched. His eyes glanced sharply towards the top of the nearest cliff. But there was nobody there. Not that he could see anyway.

But Frodo could practically feel a pair of eyes on him and the thought was sending constantly shivers down his back. He had an equally horrible feeling that... although he couldn't see the owner of the eyes... he knew who they belong to.

It could, of course, be his imagination. But he doubted it.

XXX

"Uh oh. That's just great." Ballistamon muttered as soon as the downpour started. "Just what I needed. Water pouring out of the sky and attempting to rust me through."

The three Monitamons had raised their arms over their heads in a ridiculously futile attempt to shield their monitors from the downpour. They were not used to rain. There were parts of the Digital World where it did rain on occasion. There were even a couple of parts where it never stopped raining. But in most of the rain barely fell at all if ever.

"What do we do now?" Monitamon R1 asked bounding onto another rock. "Shall we keep going... or... whooaahooahoah!" He added as he attempted to jump off and completely slipped, tumbling backwards over the edge of the boulder and bashing his head against the cliff.

"Careful. It's slippery." Monitamon R3 said.

Ballistamon looked up at the sky. The rain clouds were already so thick that it practically seemed like night, even though it was still, in fact, the day.

"As long as it's raining, this place could be dangerous." He observed. "We'll stop here for a while."

"Can we find some shelter first?" Monitamon R2 asked, shaking his TV head and sending spray everywhere.

Ballistamon look around and he had spotted a cave near by. "Hey, I can see a place we can take shelter from the rain." He said as he pointed at the cave he saw.

The three Monitamons look at what Ballistamon is pointing at the cave. "Looks like the cave can shelter all of us together." Monitamon R2 said.

As they hurried inside the cave it seem to have a good cover from the rain. The four Digimon gather together.

"Well, we are out of the rain. All we can do now is for it to stop when is over and we can move on." Ballistamon said to the three Monitamons as he watch out of the cave.

The Monitamons fell silent, and all three of them hoped that one day they too could be as selfless as Ballistamon was to everyone else. But for now they took shelter and waited for the downpour to stop.

XXX

The rainstorm seemed to last for hours and indeed it did, just over three hours. That was three hours the Hobbits sent huddled in their Elven cloaks and trying not to catch a cold as they were practically soaked through. The Elven cloaks did a much better job of keeping them dry then an ordinary cloak would but even they had their limits.

Throughout the entire storm, Frodo had not been able to shake that horrible feeling of being watched. He didn't tell Sam just yet, in case he turned out to be wrong and the Ring was just causing him to become paranoid, which was a very real possibility. But when it relented, he had been quick to press on, despite the fact that most of the terrain around them was still relatively wet.

They kept going as they usually did, scrambling over the rocks and through gullies and trying to get their bearings and not particularly succeeding. They tried to stick together as much as possible, though Frodo occasionally had to wait for Sam to catch up.

And then, eventually, Sam said the words which Frodo had been hoping not to hear.

"This looks strangely familiar." He observed as they stepped up to the edge of another large ravine but tried not to get too close.

Frodo sighed and felt slight despair rising up inside him. "It's because we've been here before, We're going in circles."

Sam's face looked like Frodo felt. They'd been wandering around for so long now and had been aware that they were lost but this... this really took a turn. They were more likely to wander around this maze forever and eventually run out of Lembas bread than they were to find a way out at this rate.

Sam stepped closer to the edge of the ravine and his nostrils were suddenly assailed. "Ugh." He grimaced. "What's that horrid stink? I warrant there's a nasty bog nearby. Can you smell it?"

Frodo sniff and indeed he could smell something quite repulsive. Something fetid and dirty and... familiar. A smell that he had smelt a couple of times before, most especially in Moria. "Yes." He confirmed, stepping closer to Sam. "I can smell it."

Sam seemed to catch the gravity of his tone and looked at him questioningly. Frodo turned around to look back and murmured. "We're not alone."

XXX

As soon the rain let up, Ballistamon had step out of the cave. The three Monitamons followed him out of the cave. They had waited in the cave for three hours long for the rain to stop, as they look around.

"Okay." He observed. "The rain has stopped. We should keep moving."

"Oh, do we have to?" Monitamon R3 groaned. "I'm knacker up by laying on the hard floor."

"Just give me a few minutes." Monitamon R2 whined. "I'm all stiff. I've been laying in the same position for three hours and I'm not a machine like you are."

Monitamon R1 said nothing. He was just stretching his arms and legs.

Ballistamon resisted the urge to sigh. Sometimes these three could be quite trying, but he would never say that to their faces of course. That would be cruel. Nevertheless, they could be relatively exasperating companies as they could still be quite childish on occasions like now when things were not going the way that they wanted them to.

"Look." He said. "I'll carry you if I have to, but we have to keep going. If we just lie here then we're not going to get anywhere in any sense of the world."

He bent down and pick up Monitamon R3, lifting him up to deposit him on his flat head, before picking up the other two in either hand and holding them up before he pressed on more thunking foot noises.

"Thanks, Ballistamon." Monitamon R3 chuckled bearily, reaching up to his large horn. "Your the beat."

"Don't touch my horn please." Ballistamon replied.

"Sorry." The hand withdrew immediately, and four Digimon press on yet again into the unknown.

XXX

Night fell quickly. The rain had taken up a large portion of the afternoon, and not to mention the days seemed to be getting shorter and closer they got to Mordor, and that meant that the Hobbits had not as much time to move as they would have liked before the darkness set in. And still the only thing that they had achieved was to find out just how lost they were. It was practically unfair but they knew that moving about in the dark was going to be as futile as trying it in the rain. They were lost as it was. They did not need it to get worse.

Now, they were both lying side by side on their separate sleeping mats, having done the best they could to make themselves comfortable on the horrible rocky floor at the bottom of a ravine as both Hobbits looked to be out like lights.

But then... there was another sound. A horrible, low and rattling noise that sounded like... breathing. Breathing crossed with hissing with a catch in the throat of whoever was doing it.

And then, above the Hobbits, was the shape. On the wall directly above where the two were laying, something shifted between the rocks stealthily and quietly, barely making a sound as it slunk slowly over the edge of the cliff face and carefully made its way down towards the Hobbits. Though it was dark, the moon was out and, eventually, the shape moved out into the light.

It was perhaps the most thin and gangly creature to reveal its body size on the face of Middle Earth. It was clothed in with nothing but a tattered brown loincloth and its skin was a horrible pasty color with grayish tint to what had once been as a pink as the flesh of a Hobbit. It was as scraggly as could possibly be, with ribs and spine vertebrae that seemed to stick out from the body like they were trying to push themselves out completely. It was no longer than a Hobbit itself but its limbs seemed longer and thinner. Its fingernails and toes were also longer than ordinary, and they were grasping the rocks with ease of a practiced climber as it moved. Its hair was virtually nonexistent, but what was there was long and straggly. When it opened its mouth there were only about nine rotten teeth inside and its eyes seemed to glint in the moonlight.

It's horrible breathing continued to rattle as slowly climbed down the side of the cliff, head-first despite the near vertical drop and, as it drew closer to the sleeping Hobbits, it began to mutter to itself. Its voice was talking and hissing as his breathing, as if someone had a constant grip on his throat as he was talking and he physically had to force the words out of his mouth.

"The thieves. The thieves. The filthy, little thieves. Where is it? Where is it? They stole it from us. My precious."

It was almost as if it didn't know that it was talking. It had now reached a rocky ledge directly over the Hobbits and no more than about five feet above their heads. It crouched low as it peered out over the edge, its lips pulled back in a snarl of anger that revealed its horrible teeth. As it moved out more into the light, long scares could clearly be seen running along its back, as if it had been clawed by some enormous beast or... whipped or something. As it kept talking, its voice seemed to rise in volume, another sure sign that it almost didn't realize what it was doing.

"Curse them. We hates them! It's ours it is! And we wants it!"

It was now leaning out over the ledge and its gangly, grasping hand was slowly descending towards indeed a real possibility. But, as it uttered its last sentence, it was taken off guard because Frodo and Sam both suddenly surged upwards and seized the creature by its wrists, revealing that they had not been asleep at all, but had been listening to its every word and waiting for it to attack.

The creature screech as the Hobbits grabbed hold of it and pulled. Its toes grasped the rock it was standing on with surprising strength but the two Hobbits together were enough to overpower it, so it did the opposite of trying to cling on and jumped off, leaping into a dive that carried its body over in a flip.

Neither of the Hobbits were expecting this action and as the creature dived over their heads they both tripped backwards, their grips its wrists loosening as they fought for balance, twisting around with it and attempting to grab it by the arms and hold it more securely. But the creature landed on its hand grabbing the front of Sam's shirt to pull itself and them pushing against him hard, causing him to lose his grip and stumble backwards, falling over a boulder that tripped him up as he did so.

The creature immediately swung back around and shoved Frodo off of him, pushing the Hobbit away just as easily as it had done with his companion. Frodo landed with a grunt on his back and nearly hit his head, scrabbling backwards as both he and Sam tried to put some distance, which was twisting in a circle now and throwing up the mats they had been sleeping on, eyes wild and half mad.

And then it turned around to look at Frodo and, for the first time Frodo got a look at the creature. He had known who it was all along, but this was the first time he had a good look at him. For it was indeed a him. It was Gollum, the wretched creature that his uncle Bilbo had told him about from his own adventures many years ago. Now, Frodo had seen him before, but only at a distance and now he could see him up close, he could feel his heart rate going up at the sight of him.

And he knew what Gollum was after as well. Gollum had been one of the few people besides Frodo himself ever to possessed the One Ring. And he had possessed it for over five hundred years, meaning the Ring had a very, very firm grip on his mind. Gollum was desperate to get it back, and now that there were finally no powerful and heavily armed Men, Elves or Dwarves to protect the Ring, he had seized his chance.

As Gollum's eyes shot Frodo's way, Frodo saw them widen and a look of recognition and desperation flitted across his features. Frodo's own eyes shot downwards and to his horror he saw the Ring had escaped the confines of his shirt and was dangling on its chain in plain sight on his shoulder. Frodo had little doubt that the Ring had done that deliberately, and now it had the desired effect. Gollum pounced and landed on Frodo full on, his hands gasping for the Ring.

Frodo desperately seized Gollum's hands before he could do so and struggled to keep him at bay. But Gollum was relentless and it became a scrabbling match between them, with each of them trying to throw the hands out of the way as Gollum furiously tried to get to the Ring, and Frodo furiously tried to stop him. Gollum let loose a rasping cry of rage as Frodo succeeded in grabbing his wrists and keeping the scrabbling hands away from the Ring as much as he could.

As Gollum pushed forward, Sam had recovered enough to scramble across the campsite and seize Gollum by the ankle, pulling him off Frodo and earning the other Hobbit a temporary reprieve. But Gollum madly twisted around, putting his body at an angle that looked barely plausible and slammed his hand across Sam's face, knocking him away again and then immediately jumping on Frodo yet again. Frodo still managed to grab the hands of his opponent, but Gollum's anger was growing now Frodo was only just able to hold him back. He also felt his energy dropping at alarming rate, as if the Ring itself had suddenly decided to get involved in the fight and try and help Gollum win. Gollum's fingers got nearer, trying to slip the Ring onto his finger and he even succeeded in touching the Ring, breathing heavily as he attempted to muscle forward.

But Sam was already back up and this time he tried a different approach, scrambling to his feet and jumping on Gollum himself, wrapping his arms around Gollum's chest heaving himself upwards. Gollum screeched in anger and fury as he was pulled away from the Ring yet again, but as Sam desperately tried to haul him away, Gollum succeeded in grabbing Frodo by the shirt. As Sam pulled Gollum, Gollum pulled Frodo, and Frodo was hauled upwards and tossed onto his back yet again with a painful grunt.

XXX

"Hey! I heard something." Monitamon R3 suddenly muttered from his position on Ballistamon's head, pushing himself to his feet and placing a hand up to the ear he did not have.

Ballistamon stopped walking suddenly and all four of the Digimon like him. They unlike the Hobbits, had decided to keep moving through the night as they at least still had some vague sense of direction thanks to Ballistamon, and it took a lot to tire out a machine Digimon like him. Monitamons had been napping on occasion but Ballistamon kept walking, moving his way onward.

"Yeah, I hear something too." Monitamon R1 agreed. "A sound like... a scuffle. Some people fighting and... what is that horrible gurgling noise?"

"I don't know." Ballistamon replied, throwing himself into a run. "But fighting could mean sentient life. Come on. We should check it out."

It was surprising how quickly Ballistamon could move when he wanted to and now he was running full speed. He was, quite literally, a machine and he pounded around and, in one case, through the rocks as they headed towards the sight of the fighting.

It did not take them long to reach it, and they found themselves at the top of yet another ravine. It was not a particularly deep one but as Ballistamon skidded to a halt moments before falling over the edge, all four of them looked down to see the combatants not far below. Two of them appeared to be human children, are with bare and incredibly hairy feet. The other thing... well, none of them had any clue what the other thing was. And currently the three of them were scrabbling with each other, the two children working together against the third and not particularly succeeding.

They also appeared to be too busy to notice the new arrivals above them.

"What's going on?" Monitamon R2 asked. "What are they fighting about?"

"More to the point, what the heck is that thing?" Monitamon R3 gasped, round eyes appearing on his monitor as he stared at Gollum.

"No time for questions." Ballistamon replied, dropping the Monitamons to the ground and taking Monitamon R3 off his head to place him on the ground too. "Stay here and keep out of sight. Those humans are in danger and I've got to help."

XXX

As Frodo tried to regain his breath from where he was thrown, Gollum wrenched himself free from Sam's grip and, before the Hobbit could stop him, bounded on to his shoulders and took a flying leap onto the cliff wall to scrabble his way up it slightly. But this was not escape attempt, for moments later he twisted around and pounced, once again, on Frodo, and this time from above, landing on him and knocking the wind out of him as he seized the front of his shirt and reaching for the Ring.

But this time Sam was on Gollum in an instant, seizing Gollum's body in the air, leaning backwards to lift the creature off his master and friend to hold him off the ground.

But, as Frodo recovered his air, Gollum proved to be much more difficult to hold than Sam had anticipated. As Sam tried to hold him still, Gollum, impossibly, managed to twist his way around in Sam's arms completely until they were face to face and he was practically crouching on Sam's chest. And then, he struck, lashing forward and his teeth bit right for the side of Sam's neck. Sam's Elven cloak softened the blow so the teeth did go in more than about a centimetre, but the shock and suddenness of attack caused Sam to lose his balance and he crashed onto his back.

Gollum's desire for the Ring seemed to be temporarily forgotten, so determined was to teach this Hobbit a lesson. Sam fell and Gollum rolled with him, wildly reaching for his neck and attempting to trap him in an arm-lock and choke the life out of him.

It was at this point that Frodo remembered that he had a sword at his waist and he pushed himself up, hand seizing the hilt and pulling it out. But, as he caught his attention. And also beat him to Gollum. That something was a shadow that fell over Frodo, causing him to look upwards. He yelped in astonishment as something large plummeted down into the ravine above them. Both Sam and Gollum were momentarily distracted by Frodo's yell and look up themselves, right at the point where something bulky, metallic, red and blue landed with "Nah!" It said and a metal hand lashed out and grabbed Gollum by the arm, heaving him off Sam with absolute ease and wheeling around to fling him across the ravine. Gollum practically squealed as he was swung about to crash rather painfully into the wall of the cliff and fell to the floor in a heap of long limbs. He was so skeletal and gaunt that it was amazing that he didn't break any bones in the impact.

Sam stared upwards at his rescuer in complete shock, totally frozen and unable to move. The cube like body, thick metal limbs, round yellow eyes set in an oblong head and enormous horn that stuck out the top all resembled some kind of beetle. But it was nothing like a beetle. It was nothing that Sam had ever seen before.

Ballistamon looked back down at the Hobbit. If he had the ability to frown then he probably would have at this point. Looking at the person he had rescued now he could see quite a few differences to the humans he had met. It was true that he had hardly ever seen any of them without their shoes on, but none of their feet had been as hairy as this. There was also the ears, which were slightly pointed. And though he was small... he didn't... look young. Nowhere near as young as Mikey, Angie, Jeremy or any of the others.

"Are you alright?" He said after a couple of seconds.

"Er... who are... what are... what?" Sam blustered, unable to say anything else or muster many thoughts to process at this point.

Frodo still had his sword drawn and was now pointing it at the creature in front of him, but for some reason he got the feeling that Sting was not going to do much good against this guy.

"I said are you alright?" Ballistamon asked. "You were being attacked and that thing hit you."

Sam's hand went to his neck. There was a little blood but not that much. "I... think I'm okay but..."

"Who are you?" Frodo interjected, still with Sting leveled at Ballistamon and not feeling comfortable about that situation in the slightest.

Ballistamon had always been straight to the point, so he merely said. "My name is Ballistamon. It's good to see you're alright. I heard the sound of fighting so I came quickly and saw it. You don't need to point that at me, I'm not going to hurt you."

Frodo did not lower his sword, which was a good thing. Gollum had been momentarily stunned by his impact with the side of the cliff, but he had come so close to getting it back what he carved. He had actually touched it! And he was not ready to back down just yet even with this new intervention. With a rasping hiss he barreled past Sam and sprang towards Frodo. Frodo yelled and swung Sting in Gollum's direction, and Gollum had enough sense to pull short before he reach the range of the blade.

Sam quickly pushed himself to his own feet and tried to draw his own sword, but Gollum was quick and had some experience fighting against someone who had a sword before. He made a fake lunge at Frodo and the Hobbit, who was inexperienced with a blade as it was, swung at him with a wide are. The moment Frodo's blade had pass Gollum's chest he lunged for real... only for a red hand to seize him by the back of the neck and slam him forcibly into the ground.

Gollum howled as his back slammed into a rock and he scrambled to get up. But before he could do so, one of Ballistamon's large, heavy feet lifted up and descended on his chest, pushing him into the ground and pinning him there. Ballistamon did not apply his whole weight, he was surely that he would kill the creature if he did that, but he applied just enough to keep Gollum from going anywhere without damaging him.

Gollum had no choice but to take this lying down, but he did his best not to. He thrashed and kicked and squirmed and swiped at the air with his grimy hands and splayed feet but this time he wasn't going anywhere. Ballistamon's weight was like that of a large boulder and if he did not want Gollum to move then he was not going to move simple as that. Gollum even lashed his head up and tried to bite his assailant, but his teeth clanged off the metal and he shrieked in anger and despair.

"So that's Gollum then" Sam murmured as he wiped his neck. "The one that Mister Bilbo was always..."

"Sam..." Frodo raised a hand, cutting off his friend before he could reveal anything about their quest to this strange newcomer that had suddenly stepped in and helped them out. He was still eyeing Ballistamon warily, but he felt it safe to say that Ballistamon was not a threat. There was no way of determining his expression since his face was frozen and he had no real mouth, but Frodo certainly didn't get the same air from him as he did with the minions of evil he had felt so far.

Still it was better to be on the safe side.

"Look, Master Ballista." He coughed. "We... thank you for your help. That creature... could have overpowered us."

"Bagginses!" Gollum snarled from underneath Ballistamon's foot, gripping the blue cuboid and trying to heave it off and making no headway at all. "They stole it from us! Sneaky little Hobbitses trying to trick us! Wicked, nasty, metal thing should stay out of this! We wants our birthday present! We wants it back! Gollum! Gollum!"

Frodo shuddered. The noise was just Bilbo had described it, a horrible coughing, retching noise from the back of his throat. But now he was wary again, Gollum had said his name. If this new guy was a minion of evil then he was probably aware of the name Baggins by this point, Sauron would have everyone out searching for the Hobbit by the name of Baggins.

But there was nothing to suggest that Ballistamon had realized the significance of that name. Then his face was so frustratingly unreadable that Frodo just couldn't tell.

"You bet he does." Sam nodded, scowling at Gollum with an expression of loathing as he massaged his neck. "I don't suppose you could do us a favor, whatever you are, and just squish him?"

"Sam!" Frodo rounded on him. "You can't kill him now! He's defenseless!"

"But Mister F... Merry." Sam quickly replaced Frodo's real name just in case. "He's Gollum. He was going to kill us in our sleep. It's what he deserves."

Gollum snarled at him, but then he finally seemed to realized the fact that Ballistamon had him well and truly stuck, and a horrible wailing noise began to come out of his throat. A cry of utter despair and loss that made even Ballistamon flinch. The failure to acquire the one Ring had hit Gollum hard.

Speaking of the Ring, Frodo quickly stowed it in his shirt and hoped that Ballistamon had not seen it. He had no idea who or what Ballistamon was supposed to be, but while he was grateful for his presence as quickly as possible. The last thing that the two Hobbits wanted was to be asked a load of questions that they didn't want to answer, like what they were doing out here.

"We can't, Sam." Frodo shook his head. "That's not the sort of thing... our mentors... would have us do."

Sam still looked repulsed, but he had to admit that Frodo was right. He sighed unhappily. "And I won't kill him either." Ballistamon added for clarification. "It's against everything the Fusion Fighters believes in."

"What's the Fusion Fighters?" Sam asked.

"The name of the army I'm part of." Ballistamon replied simply. "I don't know where the others are at the moment though. I'm a little lost. Do you know where we are?"

Frodo cleared his throat. The word army had set him on edge. "Er, yes." He nodded. "I... I think that this place is called Emyn Muil."

"Never heard of it." Ballistamon shrugged his huge metal shoulders. "Do you know how to get out?"

"Er, yes." Frodo nodded quickly. "You can... get out of here by going west as straight as you can. You could... probably get out from any direction but west is where you want to go find cities and people."

"Thank you." Ballistamon nodded. "But can I ask, what are you guys? I thought that you were human children before... but now I don't think you are."

"We're, uh, Halflings." Frodo clarified. "But, what are you anyway?"

"We haven't ever seen anything like you." Sam agreed.

"Well, I'm a Digimon." Ballistamon replied. "Ever heard of them?"

"No." Frodo and Sam replied at the same time.

"That's what I was afraid of." Ballistamon sighed. "I've never heard of Halflings either. I must be well and truly lost if I've end up outside the Digital World or to any place where Digimon haven't been heard of. This isn't the Human World, is it?"

"Er..." Sam stammered.

"Never mind." Ballistamon shook his head.

Frodo cleared his throat and said. "Look, Mister Digimon. We... thank you again for helping us with our little problem."

"Filthy little Hobbitses! They stole it from us!" Gollum wailed from his place on the ground.

Ballistamon looked up sharply. "You stole something from him? What did you steal?"

"Nothing!" Frodo cried, far to quickly. "He's... he's lying. We didn't steal from him." This was technically true as the Ring had been picked up by Bilbo and not them, but he was so quick to keep the topic off the Ring that Ballistamon clearly noticed this was a sensitive issue.

"It lies! It steals and it lies! They stole our birthday present! My precious!" Gollum hissed.

"He's delusional." Sam countered. "And can't you see he's half mad we haven't taken anything from him, you mark my words, Mister Ballista."

Ballistamon said nothing for several moments and Frodo was certain that he was going to press the matter. But instead, Ballistamon said. "Uh... okay. Fair enough. But what do you want me to do with him? I'm not going to kill him."

Frodo and Sam looked at one another. They were both as eager to get away from Gollum as they were to finish this conversation and leave, perhaps much more so. Neither of them wanted to be anywhere near him and the last thing they wanted was for Ballistamon to find out about the quest they were on. So, Frodo eventually shrugged and said. "Could you take him to some kind of prison somewhere and put him in a dungeon?"

Ballistamon blinked... or would have if he could. "A dungeon?" He asked. "I don't know where any of those are."

"Neither do we." Sam murmured.

"Well, we can't have him following us." Frodo replied. "He's been doing it for many days and we have to go."

"You do?" Ballistamon asked. "Where are you going?"

This was precisely what Frodo did not want to start talking about. "We're going to... the Lonely Mountain." He immediately decided to adapt the stories that Bilbo had told him of his own adventures for use in this particular situation. "Yes, we're going to see the Lonely Mountain. It's a long journey and we don't want to interrupt it for any reason so... can you take him off our hands."

"Take your foot off us!" Gollum was still squirming from where Ballistamon had him pinned down.

"Can I come with you?" Ballistamon asked.

"NO! I mean, no, sorry." Frodo shook his head.

"But I don't have the faintest idea where I'm going."

"Yes but... but..." Frodo was struggling now.

"It's a private Halfling thing." Sam came to his rescue. "You see, it's a... sort of test. When a Hobbit comes of age, he must go on a journey to see the Lonely Mountain to... to prove himself to the Halfling Elders. Um... he's allowed to take one friend with him to help but nobody else is allowed to go with them."

That seemed as good an explanation as any Frodo could think of even if it was wildly made up. Ballistamon stared at them both silently for several moments before he merely said. "Okay. Fair enough."

"Glad you understand." Frodo nodded. "Now... um... we've really got to go. We're already behind schedule and... do you think that you can make sure that... he doesn't follow us?"

"Okay." Ballistamon gave the Hobbits a thumb up. They both stared at his hand in bewilderment for a moment, but then Frodo shook himself and hurriedly began to gather up his possessions. Sam bent to do the same and they hurriedly packed up their packs, watch by Ballistamon the whole time as Gollum writhed on helplessly.

"Thank you, Mister Ballista." Sam turned to him once again.

"That's Ballistamon." The Digimon replied. "Good luck on your quest."

Frodo swallowed. "Yes. Thank you. Good luck to you too, Mister." He said quickly. "Come on, Sam. We've got to get moving. That... mountain isn't going to come any closer to us."

"You got it, Mister F... Merry." Sam coughed, quickly changing Frodo's name a second time.

But, as soon as the two of them stepped forward, Ballistamon cried. "Wait!" The Hobbits froze and turned back slowly and were shocked to the core when they saw Ballistamon's chest suddenly slide open to reveal the compartment inside. Ballistamon reached up with a large hand and grabbed a small device nestled in the center of the shelf his chest had made by folding outwards. It was a small, red device attached to a strap.

"This is a wrister." Ballistamon showed them before tossing it to Sam, who caught it in a fumbling manner and stared at it. "If you change your mind and you need some help in the future then you can contact me with that thing and if I can, then I'll come and help you. If I can't then I'll try and tell someone who can."

Sam and Frodo glanced at each other again and Sam stowed the small device in his pocket. "Thank you." He nodded. "Much appreciated, sir."

And then it happened. Gollum, who had been lying very still for a while now, took advantage of Ballistamon momentarily distraction with the wrister. He had grabbed a rock from the floor and flung it upwards, catching Ballistamon in the horn and causing him to stumble backwards a little bit. The moment Ballistamon's foot shifted, Gollum squired out from underneath it and scrambled forward.

Frodo and Sam both drew their swords and Gollum pulled to a stop. He knew that he was outmatched now and he could hear Ballistamon immediately coming for him from behind so he did the first thing that came to mind, he scampered. He sprang for the cliff wall and scuttled up with all the speed and practice of a four-legged spider, jumping from rock to rock as he made his way upwards and away.

"Hey, come back here and fight." Sam shouted.

Ballistamon spread his arms and roared. **"SEISMIC SPEAKER!" **Huge sound waves erupted from the speaker built into his chest and surged towards Gollum. Gollum hissed and sprang upwards as the sound waves cannoned into the cliff side where he had been moments before. The impact caused him to lose his grip on the rock nevertheless and slide downwards several feet.

However, he did manage to catch himself again, hooking his fingers around loose holds, and then scampered up and away vanished from sight.

Frodo and Sam were to busy gaping at Ballistamon to really register the gravity of what had just happened. The sheer amount of power that Ballistamon possessed astonished both of them. For a fraction of a second, Frodo wondered if perhaps they might be safer if this guy had tagged along, but Gandalf had said the Ring had greater effect on the powerful than it did the ordinary. Plus, he still didn't know anything about this creature really. And they had to go alone to prevent the Ring from affecting other people anyway.

So he ran. He turned and bolted down the ravine, away from Ballistamon and away from Gollum, wherever the wretched creature was now. Sam ran and followed too.

And yet, as he ran, Frodo couldn't help but feel a spark of pity in his heart for Gollum as he remembered what he had looked like pinned underneath Ballistamon's foot. As Gandalf had said... he had indeed been... pitiful.

But Frodo barely registered the thought. All he really thought about now was escaping them all so they could continue on their quest.

Ballistamon made no move to follow the Halflings, or to track down Gollum. He knew full well that in a maze like this he was going to be very lucky to find either of them again, and it was quite clear that those two Halflings wanted nothing to do with him. That hurt him to some degree. Ballistamon was never to proud to help somebody who needed it but those two Halflings had rejected him.

And one thing that you always had to remember about Ballistamon was that he was logical. He was practical. And he was also always remarkably levelheaded. Some people might have been taken in by the story which the Halflings had given to him, but to Ballistamon it had felt extremely strange and a little rushed and, in places, hesitant.

It was hard to lie to Ballistamon. He usually saw right through it.

"Nah." He muttered to himself. "Those two definitely have some sort of problem."

"Can we come down now, Ballistamon?" One of the Monitamons called down from above.

"Yes." Ballistamon nodded and the three other Digimon bounded over the side of the cliff and bounced down. One of them almost went plummeting all the way, but able to arrest his fall by landing on his backside after twisting violently onto another ledge.

"That was all very confusing." Monitamon R2 remarked. "But I don't think any of them saw us anyway so we did our job right?"

"What do we do now?" Monitamon R1 asked. "Are we just going and leave them to their quest to this mountain?"

"I don't think they're going to where they say they are." Ballistamon murmured. "I think that most of what they were saying were lies. I think that they're in some kind of situation and whatever that is, it means that they didn't want anybody around them."

All three Monitamons stared off down the ravine the Hobbits had dashed down. "Maybe they're fugitives." One of them suggested. "And they're trying to hide from other people in this maze place."

"I doubt it." Ballistamon remarked.

"Then maybe they're on some super secret spy mission or something like that?" Monitamon R3 chuckled.

"They don't look like the right kind of people for spying." Monitamon R1 countered.

"Neither do you, but you do it pretty well." Ballistamon pointed out. The three Monitamons promptly displayed emotions on their screens and said. "Thank you." At the same time. Ballistamon suppressed a chuckle, but then grew more focused and serious again.

"I don't know what that was all about really, but I am pretty sure of one thing." He said. "Whatever is going on with those two, I am pretty certain that they are in some kind of trouble. They were scared of me and scared of that other creature and tried to escape as quickly as possible but their excuses seemed a little bit off to me."

"So they were definitely lying?" Monitamon R2 asked.

"I think so." Ballistamon nodded. "And I accidentally allowed that creature who was attacking them to escape, and I do not think that it is going to leave them alone. It seemed pretty adamant at getting to them even when I was there to confront it. Even if their journey is not dangerous then that creature could be."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Monitamon R1 asked.

"What do you think?" Ballistamon asked, turning to face them. "What is the motto of the Fusion Fighters United Army and King Shoutmon?"

"We can't turn our backs." All three Monitamons repeated at the same time immediately.

"Yes." Ballistamon nodded. "And we maybe in a strange place but that rule still applies. We should try and help them. I gave them the wrister so if they want help they can ask but well... we still need to find them again and..."

"No problem." Monitamon R1 puffed out his chest proudly. "We'll go track them down, they can't have gotten that far yet and we can still find each other when we need to so we can split up if necessary."

"Yeah." Monitamon R3 agreed. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Right!" Monitamon R2 cried, and before Ballistamon could do anything else, they darted forward and vanished from sight as they zipped off into the ravine.

"Wait!" Ballistamon called out after them. "One of you should stay... behind..." He slowly tailed off, knowing that it was no good. The three Monitamons could be blazing fast when they wanted to be and they were probably some distance away already. Ballistamon sighed to himself and stepped over to the rock that Sam had tripped over earlier to settle on it and wait. Wait for the Monitamons to return and lead him to the Halflings.

But, right now, he had a horrible feeling that his part in this particular adventure was over.

XXX

It took about twenty minutes for the Monitamons to locate the two Hobbits. They had fanned out through a large area and were trying not to trip over themselves as they moved through the rocks and across the ravines. Eventually one of them did come across the two as they stood in a ravine below, panting for breath after their long run from both Ballistamon and Gollum.

Immediately, the Monitamon broadcast a signal across the landscape to the other two Monitamons and whispered that he had found the two Hobbits that they were looking for. It took a few more minutes but eventually the Monitamons homed in on the signal of their companion and soon the three of them were together, peering over the edge of the cliff and down at them.

The one with the dark hair seemed to sense that he was being watched again and looked up towards them, forcing all of them to drew back from the edge in the blink of an eye. He hadn't seen them but he was sure something was up there and he quickly ushered his companion further into the huge labyrinth and onward.

The Monitamons kept pace. As missions went this one was relatively easy even for them, all they had to do was stay out of sight and follow the Halflings. Even so, there were still a couple of instances where one of them tripped and almost went plummeting over the edge and, in the second case, caused a pile up of all three.

Once they disentangled themselves and kept on running, Monitamon R1 murmured. "Alright, so we've found them. we should get in contact with Ballistamon and get him to come towards us as well before they get too much further ahead."

"They're pretty far ahead already." Monitamon R3 replied.

"Then we'd better be quick about it." Monitamon R1 tried to take charge. "Someone send a message."

"Er... how?" Monitamon R2 asked.

"Huh?" Monitamon R1 asked, drawing to a halt. "What do you mean how? One of us had to send a message to... oh..." He stopped, wide eyes appearing on his screen. "None of us stayed behind did we?"

"There are still three of us here." Monitamon R3 pointed out. "So yeah. We all went. We can only send transmissions to one another. Ballistamon might be a machine but he can't pick up anything that we send. One of us should have stayed with him to wait."

"Well then, one of us can double back now and get him?" Monitamon R1 said.

"Okay." Monitamon R2 nodded. "Um... does anyone know the way back?"

The three of them all looked around one another at the rest of Emyn Muil which stood tall around them. It looked... pretty much the same to them no matter where they looked. And none of them had bothered to memorize the way back or any landmarks as they had been so focused on finding the Hobbits.

They had no idea which direction Ballistamon was. Or how far away he was. They had not picked up a wrister from him so they could not talk to him either. They were lost... and this time on their own.

"I don't suppose one of us left a trail of breadcrumbs. "Monitamon R3 murmured glumly.

"With what? We don't have bread." Monitamon R2 said. "But seriously, why does this always happen to us? Why do we never think it through properly?"

"Because we're dunces." Monitamon R1 sighed miserably. "We always have been? Always, always, always messing things up for everyone. And now, we've done it again?"

"So what do we do?" Monitamon R3 asked.

Monitamon R1 was silent for a moment but, eventually, he said. "We should stick with those Halflings. Ballistamon can take care of himself. We need to make sure that they stay safe."

The other two Monitamons looked unhappy but eventually nodded and the three of them hurried off after the Hobbits once again.

XXX

Ballistamon sat on that rock waiting for the Monitamons to return for over twelve hours. The sun rose in the sky, rather pale and bleak compared to what the sun was meant to look like and it was slipping down to setting position once again by the time Ballistamon gave up. The Monitamons weren't going to return. They would have done a long time ago if they were. They'd gotten lost and now Ballistamon was totally alone again.

Ballistamon stood there for another twenty minutes trying to decide what to do before he finally came to a decision. There was little point wasting time trying to find the Monitamons or those Halflings, regardless of what else was going on. Both the questing Hobbits and his three Digimon companions would be a very, very long way off. The logical thing to do was keep going and try to find the other Digimon and then perhaps return to try and find them with someone who could fly with them.

And also, regretting each step, he turned and head west.

XXX

**The next chapter will involve Mervamon, Cutemon and Agumon with the Fellowship. The two Hobbits Merry and Pippin were captured by the Uruk-hai.**

**And Saruman is preparing for war against Rohan. Additionally I added 5 OC in the next chapter of the story. There will be more in the future in battles led by captains, commanders or lords as good or evil.**

**Next time Chapter 11: Malice of Middle Earth.**


	11. Ch 11 Malice of Middle Earth

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 11 Malice of Middle Earth**

XXX

Mervamon had not run so far at speeds such as the one she was using right now for some time. There had been times in the past, before she even became a member of the Fusion Fighters, where she had been forced for cross large expansions of the Digital World in order to respond to distress calls from victims of the Bagra Army but that had been a very long time ago now. In fact, Mervamon doubted that she had ever run as far as she had done already in a single day.

And yet still she ran on. She was a fit and strong Digimon, more than capable of keeping up the running and the pace without much, or any problems. She knew that she could actually go faster that this if she so desired with ease, her long strides enabling her to cover distance at great speed. The only thing stopping her from doing so now were the fact that she needed to keep the pace that suited their new companions, and she actually had very little idea where they were going anyway.

It had been some hours now since they had begun running. Mervamon had long since lost track of time, but the sun had set, the moon had roused and sank and the sun had risen again already since they had left the lake. Now the sun was high in the sky once again, and still they ran on.

Mervamon had to admit that she was impressed with what she was seeing from her fellow Digimon and the humanoids around her. She knew little of human physiology but she was pretty sure that none of the humans she knew could have done this. They would have given up hours ago, unless of course they were Mikey, who never gave up when somebody was in trouble. But Mikey would have long over exhausted himself and collapsed to the floor, prompting Angie to throw something to soften his fall before he hurt his face.

And yet these adult humanoids seemed to be still going strong. Grunted Gimli and Legolas were not humans and Gimli himself was definitely not fairing as well as most of the others. The Dwarf was laden down by heavy armor while the others weren't and he obviously also had shorter legs and stocky build to contend with but he was admirably so far.

Boromir, on the other hand, was doing even worse than Gimli. Mervamon got the feeling he was usually stronger than this, but the man was clearly suffering from exhaustion. Cutemon might have been able to heal him, but he was still greatly weakened by the experience of being shot three times by arrows so large they were halfway to being javelins. He had lost a good deal of blood from some areas and he had been given little chance to rest.

It was almost a shame that they didn't have a Fusion Loader in handy. If Boromir had been a Digimon he could have hopped into one of those and been carried around while his energy replenished. But, Boromir was not a Digimon and they didn't have a device anyway, so wishful thinking was going to do very little for them at this point.

Nevertheless, despite the obvious looks that were being placed on him, Boromir was continuing, a grim expression on his face as he fought with himself, spurring himself on and it was obvious that he had no plans to stop anytime soon.

Mervamon had a feeling she knew what was driving him is guilt. Boromir claimed that he had failed to protect the two Halflings that they were currently heading off to rescue, and he had been unable to prevent them being taken away when shot by those arrows. Now he seemed to have a near overwhelming desire to make amends and put things right.

Agumon that was next to Mervamon was keeping a good pace with her, even he was one of the seven new recruits that joined the Fusion Fighters.

Regardless of the situation the only time they stopped was when Aragorn, who was leading, paused to examine something on the ground that pointed them in the right direction. Or so Mervamon assumed. She was anything but a tracker was not one of them, so she rarely picked up on anything that Aragorn seemed to have spotted in the dirt. She only had his word that they were still on the trail of those Uruk-hai.

Aragorn himself seemed to be showing only mild signs of fatigue, where as Legolas the Elf was showing absolutely none. The Elf still had his bow in hand and was running alongside Mervamon and Agumon in the middle of the group but his face was blank and there were no signs of panting, sweat or tiredness anywhere on him despite the distance they had run. It was almost eerie.

Nevertheless, Mervamon was beginning to get a little impatient. They had been running for so long but almost no words had been exchanged between any of the members of the group. She still knew so little of what she had gotten herself into. When it came to talking about themselves and why the Uruk-hai had attacked them, the group seemed to become slightly evasive, They were clearly hiding something, and Mervamon knew it and it was not really was none of her business. But still, there was a small part of her that was determined to find out what.

She also knew nothing about the creatures that they were going after, what these Merry and Pippin's relationships were to these people aside from friendship, where they were and, above all, what the deal had been with those two other members of their party who they had let go off on their own. Boromir had spoken about failing the whole group, but that just went in one of Mervamon's pointed ears and out the other with no meaning leaving itself in between. Because she got a feeling that he had meant more than just being unable to stop two of their members being taken.

So they pressed on in comparative silence. Mervamon could occasionally feel the others turning their gazes upon her and Agumon warily, they still didn't completely trust them. She ignored them, as she knew they had every right to be suspicious of her and Agumon. Cutemon though was another matter. The small bunny had long since succumbed to tiredness and was slumped across Mervamon's head, sound asleep and somehow balancing himself despite this. Things had gotten so exciting for him that the little guy was completely pass out.

The landscape had changed around them. It had been many leagues before they got out of the forest, and Mervamon and Agumon could still see it in the distance behind them if they turned their heads, but for the most part everything now seemed to be rolling plains of yellowish grass with rocky outcrops every few dozen yards or so. Mervamon and Agumon both still had no idea where they are. All they know was that this was not their world, and that when somebody finally lend them a map, they would be very happy indeed.

Eventually, they could bear it no longer and Mervamon spoke up without breaking her run. "So then. Aren't you going to tell us a little bit more about the enemy which we're chasing down? They seem to be going pretty fast themselves if we haven't managed to catch up with them yet?"

"They never stop running without rest is odd." Agumon pointed out.

"You're are both right." Aragorn called over his shoulder. "If these were ordinary Orcs then we would have caught them some time ago, for they fear to travel under the light of the sun. But these Orcs are far from ordinary. I have never seen Orcs of their build before today."

"Neither have I." Legolas agreed. "They are taller and stronger than any Orc that I have encountered before."

"At best I would say they resemble the branch of Orcs found in Mordor known as the Uruk-hai."

"That tells me very little I'm afraid." Mervamon sighed. "I have never heard of their kind before either. We don't have them where we come from."

"Same here." Agumon said.

"This mysterious Digital World of yours?" Gimli huffed as he struggled to keep up. "You are lucky indeed not to have filth like those Orcs running about the place in your homes."

"It is not surprising though." Legolas said, tight lipped. "For if they do not have Elves then it is more than likely they have no Orcs either."

"Why?" Mervamon asked with a frown. "Are you the same species or something?"

"No longer." Legolas said grimly. "Most of Middle Earth is aware of this already but if what you claim is true and you are not from around here then I suppose you would not be aware of this. Orcs weren't created by the Valar like the Elves and Men were, nor were they fashioned from scratch by the Dwarves were. But in Ancient Times, long before I was born, Orcs were created from Elves by the first Dark Lord Morgoth."

Mervamon's eyes widened in alarm. "Created from Elves?" She asked. "You mean to say that you and these Orcs share a common ancestry because someone, this Dark Lord, warped some Elves into being those... creatures."

"What a horrible thing to do!" Agumon said in disbelief.

"That is exactly what I am saying." Legolas confirmed grimly. "There are comparatively few Elves that still remember those times left in this world, but it was supposedly a terrible time indeed. several of our brethren were enslaved and tortured, mutilated, placed under Dark Magic and all kinds of hideous things in order to become the Orc race. I do not even wish to imagine the horrors inflicted on the Elves that were to become the first Orcs. I do not want to bear thinking about it."

"Agreed." Mervamon added through gritted teeth. "That is evil. Pure evil right there. makes whispered seem like a playful child in comparison. But, if these Orcs were once like your kind, Legolas, then it is not possible that some goodness of Elves remain in them."

"I know how that feels." Agumon growled. "To see innocent people being tortured and to enslaving others. I hate to see the suffering of the people."

"I know how you feel, but no." Legolas said, stiffly. "My people tried to reason with them once and they were ruthlessly cut down. No Orc has goodness in their hearts anymore. They are a race born purely out of evil and every ounce of goodness was stripped from their ancestors long ago, leaving nothing to pass down to the Orcs that we fight today. And these Uruk-hai are perhaps more evil than they, for they were created for this purpose rather than warped into it."

Mervamon and Agumon both said nothing after that for a while. But when Mervamon spoke again, it was merely to say. "I'm sorry."

"And I thank you for it." Legolas sent her and Agumon a slight smile as he run on. "The Elves have long come to terms with the origins of the Orc race. Now, we do our best to defend Middle Earth from their vicious ways. But..." He added, with a small sigh. "The power of my people is fading. I do not know how much longer we continue to protect this land."

Mervamon had no response to this. At least she could not think of one that sounded appropriate so she just buttoned her lip and ran on with Agumon, as they following Aragorn over around a rock outcropping and further out until they were running across the top of one enormous cliff that seemed to look down over yet more grassland far below.

Eventually, Mervamon continued the conversation with the words. "This Morgoth that you mentioned, you claim that he was the first Dark Lord? I assumed that he was defeated."

"Indeed." Aragorn called over his shoulder. "He was cast down and the Valar chained him and cast him into the void. He would not be able to return from such a fate, I can assure you of that."

"That's good." Mervamon nodded. But it must also mean that another Dark Lord has appeared since then, doesn't it? Possibly more than one, am I right?"

"It is just the one." Aragorn replied. "Do you two know of Sauron."

"I cannot say that I do." Mervamon replied.

"Same here." Agumon said.

"The Last Dark Lord that I was aware of was Bagramon." Mervamon said. "But he was defeated and slain by the combined efforts of everyone in the Digital World. I have not heard of this Sauron and more than I have heard of anything else from this place."

"We only have your word on that." Gimli pointed out as he huffed along at the rear with Boromir.

"Nevertheless it is true." Mervamon stated a little stiffly. "What happened to Sauron then?"

"A more appropriate question of that would be what is happening to him now." Boromir grunted as he gasped to regain as much of of his breath as he could. "He is in the process of trying to spread his dark rule over this land once again. He is still very much alive. If what you say is true and you come from a completely different world then you chose a very bad place to land yourselves in, I'm afraid."

"Ah." Mervamon muttered. "Wonderful. Another tyrannical being intent of subjugating everyone underneath his boot. And I thought Zamielmon was bad enough."

"These names you speak of mean little to us, I'm afraid Mervamon." Legolas glanced across at her.

"Nor should they." Mervamon replied. "But you should nevertheless be thankful that the Seven Dark Generals and the Bagra Army never made it here. I don't know how serious this situation is with your Sauron but suffice to say things would have been incredibly bad indeed if that had happened."

"Yes. It would be worst if you had two Dark Lords fighting amongst themselves over your world." Agumon said.

"Then I suppose we should be grateful that it was you three ended up here instead." Gimli wheezed.

"I already am." Boromir pointed out, reaching up a hand and tracing his fingers through the holes in his tunic that had been left by the three arrows that Lurtz had hit him with.

"And what of those two... Halflings that we are running to rescue?" Mervamon asked. "Who are they?"

"Merely a pair of innocent traveling companions of ours." Aragorn replied quickly, having no desire to get Mervamon any further involved with the business of the One Ring than she already was. He wished Gandalf were here. The Old Wizard seemed to have known whether these three new companions were trustworthy and not evil, he still didn't know if they could be trusted and who not to. He would have known whether these three new companions of theirs could be trusted with the secret or not. But Aragorn, while sure by this point that their new companions were trustworthy and not evil, he still didn't know if they could be trusted. Not yet. He simply didn't know enough about them yet to make that call.

Cutemon stirred from the top of Mervamon's head. Before he drifted off he had taken one of Mervamon's ribbons and tied it around his waist to anchor himself to the projections of the helmet and stop himself from falling off. Now, he yawned and opened his eyes, looking barely out around them.

"Where are we?" He murmured, rubbing one eye with his small fingers.

"We don't know where we are Cutemon." Agumon answered.

"Yes, I would like to know that myself." Mervamon agreed.

"I know these lands." Aragorn responded. "And I would say that we should soon be approaching the East Emnet of Rohan if we continue in this direction."

Mervamon chuckled. "Those names mean as little to me as the names of the people I mentioned previously did to you, I'm afraid."

"I would say the same." Agumon said. "We still know very little about your world."

A brief smile flashed across Aragorn's face as he increased his speed. "We need to find you two a map then."

"Yes, I do need to brush up on my geography, don't I?" Mervamon snorted.

"We could study the map and learn all the places of this world Mervamon." Agumon chuckled.

Cutemon giggled quietly, looking up at the sky to check how high the sun was in order to find out what time of day it was. He blinked and screwed up his eyes slightly, trying to see something high above, but then he rapped his small fist on Mervamon's helmet and said. "Hey! Hey, look! Up there!"

"What?" Mervamon asked.

"What is it Cutemon?" Agumon asked too.

The three of them look upwards despite the fact they were running along the edge of a cliff. What they saw made them skidded to a halt and Gimli almost crash into them from behind. The Dwarf loudly objected but Mervamon and Agumon both barely heard, screwing up their eyes to focus on what Cutemon had seen. High above, a dark shape. Whatever it was, it was clearly winged and if Mervamon squinted she was sure that those wings were feathered, though it was so high up that it was difficult to tell.

"Beelzemon?" Mervamon murmured to herself. "Is that Beelzemon?"

"Is that really him?" Agumon asked.

"That's what I wondered." Cutemon nodded. "It... kinda looks like him if you tilt your head just right."

The rest of the group had also pulled to a brief stop and were looking up at the shape. "I do not know who you think that is." Legolas voiced. "But I can tell you that is one of the Great Eagles that roam the skies of our world. They're huge birds that usually live in the mountains, but I have never heard of them coming this far south."

Mervamon felt her heart sink. "You can tell what it is that easily?"

"Elf eyes are extremely keen." Aragorn related. "Far more keen than those of Men and Dwarfs, though I do not know about your kind Mervamon. Nevertheless, I agreed with Legolas. It is most unusual for the Eagles to venture this far south, especially on their own. The only times they leave their mountain roots and travel such great distances is when they have a battle to fight."

Mervamon sighed. She felt a pang in her heart as she realized just how much she missed Beelzemon. At least he was not dead this time around, but still she felt an unshakable longing to find him again, to make sure he was okay. She had no idea where he was at this world and in her opinion that was almost as bad as him being dead. For all she knew, he was dead.

What if she never found him again?

Agumon knows how Mervamon feels, because he feels the same with Biyomon. He and Biyomon had been together for a long time since they first join the Fusion Fighters. Agumon began to have feelings for Biyomon. He had yet to ask her to be his mate.

Legolas seemed to notice Mervamon and Agumon both had sadness and might have been about to say something, but before he could Gimli spoke up. "Fascinated as the home rage of a species of giant bird might be, shouldn't we keep going? Those Orcs will be getting further away and taking the Hobbits with them if they're not dead already."

"Yes, Gimli." Aragorn nodded. "Come. We must make haste!" And he turned and continued in the headlong run, with the others all following on a brief moment later. Mervamon and Agumon, though, were only half paying attention to where they were going, their minds filled with images of their beloved Beelzemon and Biyomon and wondering if they were okay. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze their hearts until burst inside them.

Cutemon definitely caught Mervamon and Agumon's moods and quietly raised from their thoughts with the words. " Don't worry, Mervamon, Agumon, we'll find them again. We'll find all of them again, all right?"

Mervamon breath out from her nose and forced a smile as she nodded and Agumon too smiled. And she said. "Yeah. Yeah, you bet we will."

And they set their focus back to the running. So the group continued to run their way west on the trail their elusive enemy.

XXX

The enemy was still moving themselves. The Uruk-hai were built for running, they had sturdy legs and thickest bodies that were practically filled with stamina, making them far more reliable than a regular Orc for getting to places quickly. They did not fear sunlight and they had massive reserves of energy with their bodies, allowing them to run faster, harder and further than other Orc species, as well as fight harder on the battlefield.

They were the physical embodiment of everything twisted in the Orc race, but with the strength of Elves that the race had once been. There was a reason that Saruman stated they were Orcs perfected.

Granted, there were considerably less of the Uruk-hai than there had been when they had set out, but that didn't matter. They were on a mission and they were going to carry it out all the way to the end. Even the loss of their leader had done little to slow them down. When it became clear to them that Lurtz was not going to catch up as they originally presumed, one Uruk-hai quickly taken charge of everything and he appointed two Uruks as Captains as well.

With a regular group of Orcs, there would have been a struggle and probably a full blown fight until one of them stood above the competition and beat his opponents down before taking over. But the Uruks were not a mindless rabble. They were far more organized and disciplined as much as any Orc could be. After their new leader had been established along with two Captains, they had only paused to help secure their cargo, the two Hobbit prisoners.

Merry and Pippin had been secured to the backs of two large Uruk-hai, their arms slung around the necks of the Uruks and bound there so they had no choice but to hold on. It was not good to either of them, and despite their best efforts there was nothing they could do to escape. Even if they could find a way to get down from the backs of the Uruks carrying them, they would surely never be able to outrun them. Not in a million years. And not even after that.

They'd said very little on their journey. The both of them had been shocked to the core, the image of Boromir filled with three arrows implanted firmly on their minds. They were absolutely sure that man who had fought to protect them was now dead. How could he have survived something like that? He had died to protect them and they had just been caught anyway.

It had left the two of them more stunned than they were about actually being captives.

Now, Pippin looked over to the neighboring Uruk which Merry was being carried by and balked at what he saw. So consumed had he been in his own shock and misery that he had failed to notice the condition his friend was in. Merry had not fared the journey so well. The helmet of the Uruk he was carried by that a ridge around its base and Merry had evidently hit his head on it during the run and had been knocked out by it. There was a large gash on the side of his head running down past his eyebrow and given he was still unconscious or at least dazed, said cut was still rubbing against the ridge that had caused it in the first place, meaning it was still raw and bleeding.

Pippin's throat constricted and he fought the urge to cry out, he did not want to get on the bad side of these Uruks that were carrying them. Instead, he hissed. "Merry!"

There was no response.

"Merry!" He said in a small voice again, but again Merry did not stir. He just hung there with his head pressed against the back of the Uruk's neck and his mouth hanging open slightly. In a heartbeat moment Pippin wondered if he was actually dead, but after a moment he did see Merry's jaw twitch. He was still alive.

He was about to try and call out again when the new leader of the Uruk-hai at the front of the column stopped and raised a fist sharply, signaling all the other Uruks to stop as well. Pippin's attention was drawn to the front of the line. The new leader was just as ugly as the last, which deep mottled reddish-brown skin that looked like he was completely covered in bruises coupled with some horrendous disease. He also had long grey hair and large fangs projecting from his mouth. All the Uruk-hai looked like that though, the only reason Pippin could tell him apart from the others was that he has grey hair and was leading the party.

Pippin knew nothing about the Uruks really, but he thought he had managed to pick up the name of this leader and two other Uruks were Captains. The leader's name is Ugluk and the two Captains names are Mauhur and Lugdush. Mauhur was a purple skin and have black hair next to Ugluk and armed with a sword. Lugdush was red skin and have black hair behind Ugluk and is armed with a sword and crossbow. The leader Ugluk is not as vicious or powerful as Lurtz he was clearly still a tough guy.

The reason he had called a halt to the party became apparent a moment later. They were in a long, shallow ravine, and at the front, from behind several large boulders where they had been sheltering from the sun, came figures. Smaller and squatter than the Uruk-hai, but with similar wrinkled, dark and repulsive skin. Regular Orcs and about half a dozen of them.

None of them looked happy about having to come out in the sun, but the lead Orc, a slouching figure with a low-hanging jaw and a hooked nose, glared up at Ugluk. This one was called Grishnakh and it was quite clear that he fancied himself as quite important.

"Your late." He declared, wrinkling his nose. "Our Master grows impatient. He wants the Shire-rats now!"

Pippin had no idea who this Master they were referring to was but he could make a couple of educated guesses, neither of which applied to him. Evidently the lead Uruk knew full well, and he also didn't seem to think much of Grishnakh. He looked down at the regular Orc as if he were a piece of slime. "I don't take orders from Orc maggots!" He growled, taking a threatening step forward. He had a bullwhip in one hand that he had threatened to use on the Hobbits earlier if they tried to struggle while they were restrained.

Grishnakh stepped backwards with a snarl on his face and appeared to try and size Ugluk up, balking a little bit when he realized how much taller the Uruk-hai was. The other Orcs looked a little nervous themselves.

Evidently they had heard how powerful their larger counterparts could be and felt no desire to try and get on the wrong side of them.

"Saruman will have his prize!" Ugluk declared, jabbing a finger in Grishnakh's direction threateningly, before turning it around to jab his thumb into his own chest. "We will deliver them."

Ugluk and Grishnakh glared at one another for several moments before the latter back down slightly, knowing that he was out matched by the more powerful Orc. The Uruk's snarl twisted into a grin of triumphant, demonstrating that he had known this would be the outcome all along, before he turned back and stepped in among the rest of his troops, both in order to inspect them and check on the two prisoners.

When he was out of earshot, Grishnakh let off a hissing, rasping noise from his mouth that was clearly meant to be a derogatory gesture amongst the Orcs in order to mock Ugluk now that his back was turned. One of the Captains name Lugdush near the front of the line turned and snarled at the offending Orc. Apparently none of them held much more than contempt for their smaller counterparts.

The Orcs stepped backwards, subdued and not a little sullen. Ugluk ignored them completely and began to push his way through the towards where the Hobbits were hanging.

Despite the approaching ugly brute, Pippin's attention was diverted back to Merry. Merry appeared to be stirring slightly and ragged breaths were coming out of his mouth as his head hang back like some kind of rag doll. "Merry!" Pippin called across to him, no longer caring if he got into trouble with the other Uruk-hai. "Merry. Wake up!"

Merry still made no indication that he was hearing what is going on so Pippin looked wildly around for someone who could help based mostly on instinct alone. He very much doubted that any of their captors would be in the least bit concerned by what is going on. However, one of the Uruk-hai standing right next to him had lifted a water flask to his fangs, and was taking a swig of contents, so Pippin decided to try anyway.

"My friend is sick." He exclaimed, catching the Uruk's attention. The creature turned to glare at him and bared its teeth with a ferocious snarl right in front of Pippin's face, and Pippin was very dis-concern that he couldn't even make out the Uruk's eyes from under the holes of the helmet. Despite the display of aggression though, Pippin was imploring look. "Please!"

He had absolutely no idea if this was going to do any good or not. He didn't think these Uruks had a speck of goodness within their bodies but nevertheless he was trying to appeal to any goodness that might exist, however small. All he seemed to be met with though, was the vicious looking canines in his face.

"Sick is he?" Ugluk smirked as he stepped closer. Pippin's attention immediately diverted to him with an attempt at an imploring expression, and the situation was grabbing the interest of all the other Uruks gathered in the double-column. Ugluk pointed a hand at Merry and yelled. "Give 'im some medicine boys!"

For a split second, Pippin was filled with hope, but changed instantly when there was a cacophony from the other Uruks, as if they seemed to find this funny. The Uruk who had been snarling at him turned around and approached Merry, seizing him by the chin and opening his mouth wide, lifting up the large bottle with the liquid and tipping the contents into Merry's mouth.

The only problem was that the liquid appeared to be something viscous and brownish that Pippin couldn't identify and the Uruk made absolutely no attempt to be gentle. Not only did copious amounts of stuff pour down the side of Merry's face but what did go into his mouth immediately went down the wrong hole. Pippin watch in horror as Merry abruptly began choking and retching and spluttering, but the Uruk ignored him and kept pouring.

"Stop it!" Pippin shouted.

Merry thrashed his head and looked like he was about to hurl when the Uruk relented after about five seconds. All the other Uruks were jeering and shouting and bellowing with laughter at the simple cruelty of this small action. "Can't take his drought!" Ugluk roared with laughter, and the rest of the Uruks joined him, including the one who had been doing the pouring, until the ravine was filled with echoes of mocking laughs. This was the true nature of the Orc. They loved to cause suffering in others, even if it was mild. They had been given orders not to harm the Hobbits physically, but they still found ways to get their kicks.

"Leave him alone!" Pippin shouted, jerking valiantly in his bounds and getting nowhere, while Merry just hung there and gasping for breath, the brown liquid still dripping from the wound on his face.

"Why?" Ugluk asked abruptly, silencing all activity in the ravine as he stepped closer, jabbing a finger in Pippin's face. "You want some? Huh?"

Pippin didn't give a physical answer but the sudden fear that appeared in his eyes was all the answer that Ugluk needed. "Then keep your mouth shut." He sneered at the Hobbit, fixing his fierce eyes with Pippin's terrified ones for a second, before turning back to head to the front with the other two Captains once more, the Uruks around him snarling to themselves and falling back into their ranks.

Pippin's focus immediately turned back to his friend. "Merry?" He asked full of concern.

Merry looked barely across st him, conscious and awake now and managed to muster barely. "Hello, Pip." Across to his fellow captive. There was still large amounts of brown Uruk-drought or whatever that stuff was dripping down his chin and he looked dazed as he struggled to get his breath back.

"You hurt?" Pippin asked, glancing at the wound on Merry's face.

"I'm fine." Merry breath, the traces of a bravado-filled smile appearing on his face. "It was just an act."

"An act?" Pippin blinked, staring at Merry incredulously.

"See." Merry seemed to be attempting to grin, but it was coming out rather lopsided. "Fooled you two."

Pippin just stared at him for several moments, seemingly unsure whether to smile or just looked confused and apparently attempting to do both at the same time. Of course, what Merry was saying was not true at all. It had not been an act, he had been very much out of it when he had been stirred by the liquid pouring down his throat. But the last thing Merry wanted to do was make Pippin worry about him. Both of them had been troublemakers in the Shire, but Merry had always felt somewhat responsible for the slightly younger Pippin regardless and now was certainly no exception.

"Don't worry about me, Pippin." He murmured, resting his forehead against the helmet of the Uruk-hai he was hanging from once again, trying to shake off the weariness that was scouring through his small body.

Pippin turned his attention back to the front, where one of the Captains named Mauhur had started to sniff the air, a look of wariness on his face.

Ugluk noticed it too and so did the other Captain name Lugdush. Ugluk quickly stepped over and said. "What is it? What do you smell?"

Mauhur hummed to face his leader and growled. "Man flesh." This caused Ugluk to glance sharply over his shoulder. But before he could say anything else, the other Captain Lugdush smell something else and said. "And I smell... something else. A different smell! Something I don't recognized!"

"It could be that women and that small dragon!" Cried another of the Uruks nearby and there was slight tremor of fear in his voice. Not many of the Uruks that had escaped the battle had seen Mervamon and Agumon, as most of those that has seen them had been brought down by sword, burn by fire ball, cut by claws, or wack by the snake arm moments later, but this Uruk had been one of the lucky ones. "They fought like a bunch of demons. Like wild things! The woman's sword was as big as we are and the small dragon was quick to strike us with claws!"

"We slew the powerful Man!" Ugluk snorted. "We can slay those demons I've been hearing about. But all their group were fierce fighters and we have our orders. We have to get these prisoners to Saruman as soon as possible! We can't let them catch up with us! Let's move!" And he turned and charged further down the ravine, the Orcs under the command of Grishnakh falling into step beside the front running Uruks as they all began to thunder forwards once again.

Pippin was confused. "Man flesh" had been the word ghat he understand. That might mean that Aragorn was not far away and could be, at this very moment, closing in on the party of Uruks. But the talk of those called woman and small dragon were completely new to him. There hadn't been any woman or small dragon in their Fellowship, they had all been guys and no creatures. So what were the Uruks are talking about?

"Your forces were taken down by a female and a small dragon?" He heard Grishnakh taunt from the front. "Are you sure you are worthy of the title of the Fighting Uruk-hai that you brag so much about?"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Orc scum!" Roared the Uruk who had mentioned the woman and small dragon. "This wasn't some puny Man female and small dragon. They were monsters! The woman's entire arm was one big snake and the small yellow dragon is one tough fighter!"

Pippin's eyes nearly boggled out of his skull at the prospect of the idea. Had the Uruk been delusional? That seemed like the only reasonable explanation to him.

Regardless, he needed to think quickly. If Aragorn was tracking them then he wouldn't have any proof the Hobbits were still alive if they were being carried, so he needed to do something that would urge them to, let them know that they were alright for the time being.

Hurriedly he attempted to reach his mouth down and grasped the leaf-shaped brooch of his Elven cloak between his teeth and yanked upwards. It took a bit of effort, but he managed to eventually tug it away from where it was supposed to be and, hoping none of the Uruks noticed, spat it out of his mouth to land on the grass with a slight clink.

But Pippin had already lost sight of it before it hit the ground and he could only hope that as the Uruks thundered on and many of them run on the little Elven brooch, that anybody who was following their group would find his little clue. It seemed that for the moment, the fate of both Merry and Pippin was out of their own hands.

XXX

Such was the speed that the Uruk-hai were traveling at, they had been able to gain a good lead on the group during the brief period where they had stopped to heal Boromir and discuss their next move. They were more than half a day ahead by this point already, and it seemed to most of the party that they were leaving no sign of their passing.

And yet Aragorn seemed to be steering them in the right direction, though they only had his word for it. Every now and then he would call a halt and press his ear against the ground as if listening for something beneath, and every time he did this he would spring up a moment later and continued running, occasionally adjusting his course slightly but always with certainly.

"They have pick up their speed." He said with a sigh after the most recent of this. He sat up and licked the tip of his finger and lifted it up slightly, nothing that the wind was blowing from behind them in the direction that they were currently going. "We're upwind of them. They must have caught our scent and they know we are pursuing them. Quick! We must hurry!"

And he vaulted over the rock and continued his headlong dash across the turf. The others were all not far behind him straight away.

"He can really hear their footsteps when he does that?" Cutemon asked. "I didn't think human ears were that good."

"Aragorn is a Ranger." Legolas related to them. "He has lived all his life in the wild, he is an expert on all forms of tracking and path-finding. Trust him. He will lead us right."

"Maybe I can help too." Cutemon cried, standing up on top of Mervamon's head and placing his hands over the earmuff-like projections he wore on either side of his head. The two huge ear-like projections on top of his head waggled in the air of their own accord for a couple of seconds as he shut his eyes in concentration. Then he pointed forward and said. "Yes, I hear something too! A rumbling noise coming from that direction! Could that be them?"

"It could very well be." Aragorn shouted back.

Cutemon's smile slipped. "They sounded awfully far away."

"All the more reason for us to pick up our pace." Aragorn related, doing just that. Mervamon had long since gone past being impressed by the Man's stamina and she was almost going into awed. And Legolas was much the same.

Cutemon sighed. "I hope this is all worth it." He muttered.

"You're not even doing the running." Gimli griped. "When it is my turn to hitch a lift? Hoo, on second thought, maybe I should stop talking." He set his face into a stone-like mask and run on, ignoring his obvious fatigue to the best of his ability and going his best to keep up with the swiffer runners at the front.

Agumon was running next to Mervamon and turn to Gimli and said. "You could consider this a race to who will catch the Uruks first!" He smiled to Gimli.

That gave him a boost as he actually succeeded in running past Mervamon and Agumon, but that was mostly because the two Digimon had slowed down and were looking over their shoulders at the Man who was bringing up the rear of the party.

Boromir was falling behind.

And he was beginning to do so by some time. Each time that Aragorn had called a halt, Boromir had been some distance behind and had try to do his best to catch up before they set off again. The Man, who might normally be in the prime of health and could possibly have run like this just as well as Aragorn, was looking extremely pale by this point and his breath was just mere wheezing gasps.

"Boromir, are you alright?" It was question and Mervamon knew it. She could see full well that Boromir was most certainly not alright. But the question did attract the attention of the rest of the group as the two Digimon drew to a halt and allowed the Gondorian to stagger to a halt next to Mervamon and Agumon and Boromir throw out a hand to grab Mervamon by the arm and steady himself.

"You don't look so well?" Agumon was worried for Boromir.

"Yes." Boromir nodded firmly, his chest heaving. "I am fine. I can continue. Let's keep... ungh..." He staggered slightly as he tried to push himself off Mervamon and keep running, collapsing sideways until he was leaning against her with his shoulder with most of his body weight. The tall Digimon hurriedly attempted to steady him, but moments after she did so, Boromir pushed her arms away and stood apart. He was wavering on the spot and looked barely able to stand, but his expression was still defiant even though it was clear he was exhausted.

"Do not concern yourself with me." Boromir gasped. "I am fine. We must... we must... get after them. We can't let them... Merry and Pippin..." He wavered again and placed fingers to his temples, as if trying to pinch the dizziness out of his brain.

Mervamon bit her lip and Agumon was worried for that Man. Boromir should really have longer to rest before they began this headlong dash across the world. His wounds might have healed but his body itself was still recovering. Humans, not even the toughest of them, were as durable and quick-healing as a Digimon, which meant that he was greatly over exerting himself. The fact that he had gotten this far was a commendable feat in and of itself.

The two Digimon glanced across at Aragorn and could quite clearly see he was in an agony of concern. They were losing ground on the Uruks with every second they stood there and therefore losing their chances of getting to Merry and Pippin in time but surely they could not simply abandon one of their own out here either. Yet it was quite painful to see that Boromir needed rest and he wasn't going to get that if they didn't stop.

None of the others knew these lands as Aragorn did, since he was the one doing the tracking, this was quite the problem.

"Come on!" Boromir stepped forward, forcing himself into a jog and trying to pick up speed. "We cannot just stand here. We've got to go... The Hobbits need us."

He over took the others and they watched him run on several more steps before he staggered and threw out a hand to catch himself on a nearby boulder, leaning heavily against it and looking for all the world like he was trying to reach himself to it.

Aragorn stepped closer and placed a hand on Boromir's shoulder. "Boromir, you must rest. It will not be long before you collapse at this rate and over exert yourself too much and you could even kill yourself."

"He's right, Boromir. If you keep going you could die." Agumon said.

"Are you both listening to yourselves?" Boromir gasped. "How can I rest when the Hobbits are in peril. I have to find them and... redeem my failure."

"You will be no use to the Hobbits if you are unable to lift your shield if we do catch up with the Uruks." Legolas pointed out.

"I owe it to them." Boromir growled stubbornly. "I have to... have to..."

"Boromir." Mervamon said, stepping closer to the sweating, exhausted Gondorian. "You're a Man of honor, right."

"Of course." Boromir blinked in bemusement. "Honor is one of the most valuable commodities for a Man to possess."

"Then perhaps it would be better if you were unconscious for this." Mervamon said regrettably. And, without warning, the Medullia lunged outwards and struck Boromir across the forehead with its blunt nose. The already fatigued Man slumped against the rock and Mervamon stepped forward to catch him in her one real arm.

As she struck, the hands of the others had immediately drawn to their weapons, but they all stared frozen, as they watched Mervamon lift the heavy looking Man and sling him onto her shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes. A rather light looking sack of potatoes from the ease which she did it.

"Sorry about that." She muttered. "But we're not leaving him here so I'll carry him if I have too. But I believe he would find the experience rather embarrassing if he were awake so perhaps it will be better for him to be out of it for a while. His body can recover on its own this way."

"I will apologize for Mervamon's actions." Agumon said.

The three others relaxed their stance again after this. "You're strong." Gimli noted, nodded at the limp Man slung across her shoulder.

"You think he's heavy?" Mervamon chuckled. "I had to carry Ballistamon once, he was much heavier than this guy. Now, shall we go?"

"You are very strong indeed, Mervamon." Aragorn noted. "And yes. We're losing time."

"She is one of the strongest members of the Fusion Fighters."Agumon smiled.

Aragorn quickly turned to hurry away once again and, Mervamon lifting the unconscious Boromir into a better position on her shoulder, Mervamon set out after him, Agumon followed behind her. Legolas and Gimli exchanged a brief look of mild bemusement before they too continued running.

"I don't suppose you have room on your other shoulder for another passenger?" Gimli huffed as he spurred himself on. "I won't even be too proud to have to be knocked out at this rate."

"Sorry." Mervamon chuckled. "But I think I'll save my shoulder space for one who really needs it."

"She is very touchy for one person she cared about." Agumon explained and hurried on.

_Just who is this person? _Legolas thought to himself as he run past the two Digimon and caught up with Aragorn in the front. And so the five of them continued their run, one of them now carrying two passengers. But none of them if and when they finally caught up with their quarry.

XXX

And pull back from them, high into the sky and proceed northwest for many, many leagues, past the rolling yellow plains, a few makeshift villagers and couple of rivers, and you would reach an enormous black tower standing at the foot of a mountain range and surrounded by a large circular wall to keep unwanted guests out. The tower of Orthanc, its four enormous spires stretching upwards as if to skewer the clouds.

This was the final destination of the Uruk-hai that were carrying Merry and Pippin, for it was here that Saruman the White, the former leader of the White Council. The Wizard, now corrupted by evil, had spent a large portion of the day with his claw-like hand hovering over the Palantir and scanning Middle Earth for any signs of what the mysterious disturbance that he has sensed the other day might have been.

He had been able to pick up a couple of things but there was a limit even to what a Palantir could do for you. It certainly helped even more if you knew where it was. Saruman had no clue about either, so he had been left effectively scurrying everywhere, trying to find some clues.

What he had been able to find had confused him. He seen some sort of red lizard creature wandering across a grassy plain, some kind of strange wolf and cat fleeing from a pair of Rohan's horsemen, and what looked like a white rabbit with a crest of a moon on her forehead and along a young girl with a large pike flower on her head both wondering lost through a forest, among other things. But they had all been brief flashes and he had been able to make little details or sense out of anything.

Eventually he had resolved to wait. This mystery would make itself clear to him eventually, he knew. So he had turned his attention to the Uruks who had attacked the Fellowship. He had seen brief glimpses of one of the Fellowship, the Gondorian, with three arrows planted in his chest and he had seen enough to be satisfied that the Uruk-hai were now bringing their prisoners back to him.

It would not be long now, he was sure of it. Not long until he had possession of the Halflings. And then, the One Ring.

He felt a shudder of anticipation at the thought of power it could bring him. Yes, Saruman might now be Sauron's puppet, but that didn't mean he didn't have hopes, ambitions and ideals for the future. And the idea of possessing the Ring, maybe even casting Sauron down with it... well, that certainly seemed very appealing to his now twisted mind.

But for now he had other things to focus on, such as accelerating his war front. Things were going well it seemed, and he took a walk through the extensive pit systems that that the Orcs he now had in his service had dug, makeshift wooden bridges and walkways spanning its lengths and boards and allowing Saruman easy access to all areas to check on the progress of his numerous minions, who were growing in numbers all the time.

More Uruk-hai were being pulled out of the earth at a constant rate, roughly one of them being pulled from the mud roughly every thirty seconds. The Orcs in charge of this operation were quick and efficient and by this point they had plenty of practice, wielding the dark magic that Saruman had instructed them in to give rise to the new race of monsters and set them ready for war almost immediately. The air was filled with the snarls and growls of awakening Uruk-hai, just as it was equally filled with smoke, sparks and rasping cries of the Orcs in their own grunting language.

There was a hiss of rapidly cooling metal as another Orc plunged a newly created sword into a pale of water, while others were poured to heat them up. The noises of hammers ringing on the forges was a near constant beat as helmets and breastplates were battered into shape and other vicious looking instruments of death were churned at a rate almost as fast as the Uruk-hai themselves.

There was a crumbling sound from above and Saruman's gaze was drawn to see perhaps the last of Isengard's original trees plummet down into the caverns and crashed into the bottom with a shower of splinters. A swarm of Orcs promptly crowed over it to chop it to bits with their axes. Others were already carrying small logs towards the holes in the walls that lead into the furnaces and tossing them in, keeping the orange glow emanating from within strong and the fires raging.

All in, it might seemed like some private view of hell to most people, swarming with wretched creatures of evil and filled with fires and roars and screams, many of the Orcs were not skilled at laboring and there were more than one cases where one would be on the receiving end of a serious burn. And yet Saruman just stood there with a look of satisfaction on his face, gripping his long, black staff and his lips curling into a smirk at the thought of what these Orcs would do to the people of Rohan when his war began.

Things seemed to be coming together for him. Orcs were not the only recruits he had gathered and the Uruks were not the only fighters of his army. He had plenty of war-worthy Orcs themselves, but he also had a very large number of Wargs. The large bear-like wolves snapped and growled at one another constantly and were kept under the watch of one of Saruman's main Orc Captains, who had introduced himself as Sharku, an expert Warg rider and commander. Saruman could see him now, standing over the Warg Pen and leering in as the wolves clawed and bite at one another.

He claimed that keeping them as worked up as possible between conflicts made them all more deadly and eager to fight on the field itself and Saruman had nothing yet to indicate that this wasn't true.

There was a cawing noise and several enormous crows swooped in overhead, observing events with greedy black eyes as if scanning for corpses. These were Crebain, who served as scouts, messengers and spies for Saruman, and who gladly joined at the prospect of a war as they knew that when each battle ended there would be a banquet of fresh carrion for each of them wherever Isengard's armies spread.

And speaking of allies, another group of associates would soon be arriving, and Saruman would be there to greet them. But, as he watched more and more Uruks being pulled from the pits, he announced. "I want them armed and outfitted with their armor within two weeks." To the Orc Captain that he knew named Gurz was standing next to him. "It has become more necessary than ever that we make haste with our invasion. They must be ready to march on Rohan within a fortnight.

"But, my Lord Saruman." Gurz protested in a thick voice. "They are to many of them. Our armors cannot keep up with the pace which they are being created. And we're running low on resources. We're down to the last tree and after that we're out of fuel for the furnaces."

"Fool." Saruman turned to him with a harsh glare. "Look out to the east." He pointed with his staff. From their position, they had a a vantage point out over the top of the wall that surrounded the fortress. "What do you see?"

"More mountains and... and that forest." Gurz replied.

"Exactly." Saruman nodded. "The forest of Fangorn. It sits there with its trees right next to our walls and you claim that we are running low on fuel? Take your axes and give the fires more fuel with those trees."

"Yes, my Lord." Gurz responded, a leer growling on his face. "It shall be as you wish."

"And make haste on the construction of the dam." Saruman added. "I want that stream to be blocked fully by tomorrow. We must work around the clock tl build up our army. Rohan is already on its last legs, but we must ensure that those legs fold before they can regroup. This world will burn as the trees have burned. And then, you can feast on the flesh of Men and Beast alike."

Gurz let loose something that almost sounded like a crackle of anticipation as he hurried off to do as the White Wizard instructed. Saruman strode out across the walkway and back towards his tower, satisfied with the process they were making. With Sauron building up his armies to the south and preparing to march on Gondor, Saruman knew he had to be ready now. They would trap the Southern Kingdoms in a vice, and draw their Men to opposite fronts. And divided, they would fall.

And Saruman wanted to make sure he was ready even before Sauron was. That would most certainly please the Great Eye and the Men of the West would soon fall.

But not all of the Men of the West would suffer under the boot of Saruman. Some Men he could use to his advantage. And that was what he was going to try now. As he approached the tower, he could quite easily make out the small huddle of Men at the base of the stairs.

Compared to the Men from Rohan and Gondor, these Men were very different, much more ragged, unkempt and generally filthy looking. They all had huge shabby beards and scruffy long hairs that made it look like they were wearing some kind of mane around their faces. They were armed with crewed wooden like sharpened stacks that seemed to appear as spears and other weapons like swords, axes and clubs. A few of them had knives too, proper metal knives, which were rare among their kind and some of them are armed with bows.

The Men were Dunlings. As their name suggest, they came from Dunland, the same place as the Crebain and a large expanse of hills and ragged countryside, mostly rocky and sparse of life, except for a few small forests. There Men were not civilized, they were wild. They lived in caves at best, but the fact that they had been surviving there for many years, since before even the Men of Numenor came to these areas, made them a tough and hardy race. They were all strong and powerful, they had to be tough to hunt food they needed to stay alive.

And Saruman was planning to make a potential ally out of them in the fight against Rohan. The rivalry between the Dunlings and the Rohan warriors extended as far back as could be remembered. In fact, the year that Saruman had first settled in Isengard, had been the year the massive Dunlings invasion of Rohan had finally been repelled by the Rohirrim. The Dunlings had even been able to seize Edoras and the throne and kill the mighty King Helm Hammerhand, before finally being defeated.

"Ah, Wulf." Saruman nodded to the man at the front, a tall individual with a slouch and matted black hair that merged with his beard and he is accompanied by two warriors to either side of him. The first one on the left is a man with black hair and beard and he is armed with a scythe. The second one on the right is a woman she has long reddish-brown hair and she is armed with a sword and bow. "Welcome to Isengard. Are these all the warriors you brought with you?"

"No." Wulf said in a thick, deep voice. "I have many more waiting outside the gates. We have yet to hear the extent of your offer and only when we do we will make a decision." He pointed his two subordinates. "The man on my left is Borgo and the woman on my right is Orleth. Those two are my fierce warriors."

"Most wise and introductions." Saruman chuckled with a mildly piercing stare. "But perhaps it would be better if you and I could speak without the company of your fellow soldiers and warriors. As leader of the Dunlings, I would speak to you and you alone."

Wulf looked suspicious at the notion. "I have heard of your powers, White Wizard. What is to stop you from blasting me to pieces once I am alone?"

Saruman actually laughed and fixed the leader of the Wildmen with his fierce eyes and said. "If I wanted you dead, Wulf, I would, as you so eloquently put it, blast you to pieces right here along with the rest of your group. There would be little you could do to stop me. In fact, there would be nothing."

The other Wildmen looked nervous at the proposition and look to their leader for guidance. The two warriors next to their leader are wary to protect their chief. But before he could say anything Saruman added. "But I did not summon you here for that. I needed your armies and therefore I will need the support of their leader. Come, let us step inside so we can negotiate."

Wulf nodded and followed the White Wizard inside. And not just because Saruman had given him sound arguments and reassurance in a strangely morbid fashion, but also because he was almost physically compelled to without realizing it. He left his two warriors to look after his troops. Merely hearing it was practically enough to get even the most wary and superstitious of Men, as these Dunlings were, to listen to him.

XXX

They ascended the stairs into the tower and silently walk up several more steps until they reached Saruman's throne room, where the Palantir sat on its pedestal at the center. As Saruman turned and settled on the obsidian chair set into the wall he laid his staff to one side and rested his hands in his lap.

"I will hear you out." Wulf said as he stood before the Palantir. "I have gathered many of my people as your Crebain spies requested me. What is it that you want us to do?"

"Simple really." Saruman said silkily. "I want your armies to fight for me. The world is changing. Even you, who dwell in the caves of most remote of places, must be realizing this. The Darkness is stirring in the land of Mordor, and the Dark Lord Sauron is rising to power once again."

"So it is true?" Wulf asked. "There were rumors among my people of it but that is all they were."

"It is very true." Saruman replied. "His armies are building, his fortress is rebuilt, the Nine have now returned once more in the lands. And soon, war will be coming to all the lands of Middle Earth from Gondor up to the Mountains of the North. And sooner or later, everyone must choose their side."

"But I was under the impression that you were on the side of Rohan's people." Wulf growled.

"Once." Saruman smirked. "Yes, once. But those times have passed. I have my eyes opened, so to speak. I have seen things, many things. And I know that against Sauron and his rapidly growing armies there will be no chance of victory to any to stand in their way. His power grows daily, in both strength of force and strength of self. The darkness is coming, Wulf, and soon will engulf all of Middle Earth. I ask you, what is the harm in joining the winning side to ensure your own survival? It is the obvious course to take."

"So you have thrown your lot in with the Dark Lord, eh?" Wulf sneered.

"Indeed I have." Saruman smiled thinly. "And with me by his side, I can tell you now that he is unstoppable, for I am building my own army and my own power. And I want you to be part of it."

"And why should I do that?" Wulf asked. "We have no business with anyone in the hills. We are no threat to Sauron?"

"That will not matter to him." Saruman chuckled. "In the view of the Dark Lord, you are either with him or against him, and if you are not the former then you will be the latter, no matter how far you try to run, how well you hide or how much to wish that you weren't. Once Gondor and Rohan fall, he will more than likely come for you next. Unless, of course, you join him."

Wulf said nothing for a moment, digesting this information. Saruman could see that he was already getting through to the Man, but he knew full well what the icing of the thought would be. And he also knew it had occurred to Wulf as well.

"Join me now." Saruman sneered. "And you can have what you desire. Everything that you desire. I know that your people wish for vengeance on the people of Rohan. They drove you to the far lands of Dunland when they first settled there didn't they, stealing your lands and forcing you to adapt to survive."

Wulf growled under his breath and Saruman pressed on, knowing he was getting through to him.

"Over the years, your people have constantly been leading assaults on the borders of Rohan across the Fords of Isen. I have seen you. Ever since your last great invasion into Rohan failed many times to drive them out with only minimal success. You are scattered folk now, with only a fraction of the power you desire. With my own army."

"Your own army?" Wulf questioned. "Those Orcs? Filthy creatures, the lot of them."

"I am not denying that." Saruman admitted. "But they do serve their purpose. Nevertheless it is not Orcs of which. I speak, but my own creations, a crossbreed I devised from blending the body of an Orc with the body of a Man, with all the best qualities of both. They are the fighting Uruk-hai, and with them under my command my campaign against Rohan has already begun.

"How so?" Wulf asked.

"My Uruks have been raiding the borders of Rohan as you once did." Saruman smirked. "The Rohirrim were unprepared from their aggression, their strength and their discipline but fought with spirited resistance all the same. Nevertheless, their outer defenses across the borders have all but broken already and now my armies able to roam across Rohan into is undefended villages. The slaughter has already begun."

Wulf smirked as well. "The straw-hats are getting what they deserve then." He said, using the mocking name that the Wildmen used to describe the Rohirrim due to the large number of warriors who were also blond. "They forced us into exile and out of the lands we owned."

"Indeed." Saruman nodded. "But now they are weak. Weaker than they have ever been. Not only are my Uruk-hai tearing through their defensive lines, but I also have an ally in the King's court, who is channeling my power into the King himself, weakening him and bending him to my will. It won't be long now before I gain complete mastery over King Theoden himself. Rohan will soon have no defenses left to fall back on. Not even their great fortresses will be able to keep us out. I breed hundreds more Uruk-hai every day, while they die and receive no reinforcements. They are crumbling. And now is your chance to take back what you deserve. Join us and you and your warriors will be spared the wrath of Sauron and be part of the final destination of the Horse Masters."

Evidently Wulf very much liked the sound of this, a slow grin appearing over his face as he thought of the consequences. Quite frankly, he did not see either how the Rohirrim could pull out a victory if everything Saruman said was true.

Perhaps this was indeed the chance he was looking for.

"And." Saruman added for the final touches. "Sauron's own armies are growing exponentially every day. His own armies are already advancing on Gondor to the south. The armies of the Two Towers, Orthanc and Barad-dur, will crush the Men of the West beneath our fists and sheer strength in numbers if nothing else. Now, I ask you again. Will... you... join us?"

Wulf was nodding his head already by this point, both due to the immense anticipation he was feeling and due to the words that Saruman's voice itself was putting on him.

"We will fight for you." He nodded, showing his much blackened teeth with a vicious grin.

"Swear it." Saruman said immediately.

Without hesitation, Wulf drew his knife from the sheath on his belt and held it up for a moment. His face turned into a grimace and he gritted his teeth as he slowly and deliberately placed the edge of the knife blade and against the palm of his other hand and, with excruciating slowness and deliberation he pushed it in and drew the blade downwards. Saruman watched with terrible fascination and immense satisfaction until Wulf drew his blade away and clenched his fist to hide the deep wound he had just done to himself.

The Wildmen were barbaric people. To them, there was nothing remotely primitive or disturbing about this self-mutilation. Wulf gritted his teeth and gave Saruman a fierce look as little of blood began to seep through his fingers and run down the back of his hand.

"We will die... for Saruman." He confirmed, his savage grin slowly returning to his face.

Saruman nodded. Now with Orcs, the Wargs and the Wildmen behind him, it seemed that there was little that could stand in his way. And yet he had still not finished his designs. Now he had to go out and speak to the rest of the Wildmen and get them to follow their leader, but after that, he had some... devising to do. There was, after all, more than one advantage to industry to mass production of weapons. Must get larger and much more powerful... devices.

XXX

And yet Saruman was completely unaware to the presence of two small creatures that were currently making their way through the pits down below and doing their best not to get noticed.

"Slow down would you?" Bombmon 2 glowered at his counterpart as they hopped through a thin crevice. "Do you want to be seen?"

"So what if we are seen?" Bombmon 1 crowned as he came to a stop and waited for the other to catch up. "If they come near us we can just blow their faces in."

"And then what?" Bombmon 2 asked petulantly. "Exploding in an underground place like this is a bad idea alone, but surrounded by all of these creatures. We might be able to blow a few of them up but sooner or later we will run out of steam. And from what I can see, they're not."

He indicated with his eyes and the two of them peered around the wall, watching as a pair of Orcs pulled what looked like huge ball of mud began writhing and growling as they watched in revulsion as the Orcs, peeled it aside to reveal the tall, fanged Uruk-hai within.

"Ugh." Bombmon 1 was disgusted. "What are these things anyway?"

"The heck if I know." Bombmon 2 muttered. "But all the more reason that we got out of this place while we can cause these guys do not look friendly."

"Can't argue with that." Bombmon 1 sighed.

"And we don't have any backup." Bombmon 2 pointed out. "If Greymon was here then yeah, maybe we could bust out of this place. But he's not, so we can't."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. So what's the plan?" BomBombmon 1 said.

"You think I have a plan? The only plan I have is to find an exit and leave." Bombmon 2 said.

"Great plan." Bombmon 1 rolled his eyes. "Well, we're in a cave aren't we? Let's just find a door."

"Yeah, I don't think we're in a cave." Bombmon 2 followed his gaze, he realized that his partner was probably right. They could see the sky above them through a large hole in the roof and there appeared to be quite a few of them dotted around the place.

"I think we're in some kind of cavern." Bombmon 2 went on. "Look, there's a bunch of wooden walkways stuff that lead up to the top. That means that well... the only way is up."

"Oh wonderful." Bombmon 1 muttered. "And how exactly are we meant to get up one of those things without being spotted? We might be small but there's no way that they're not going to notice a couple of little strangers bouncing up there in plain sight of everything."

"First you're over confident and now you're cynical." Bombmon 2 signed. "Make up your mind."

"Who are you calling cynical?" Bombmon 1 fumed. Quite literally actually, as the fuse on the top of his head suddenly lit. Bombmon 2 almost yelled and leap at the other, knocking him over extinguishing the fuse by bouncing on it a couple of times.

"Are you out of your mind!" He hissed. "You could bring the wall down on us if you blow here."

"Right yeah, fine." Bombmon 1 pushed himself upwards. "Sorry. Anyway, how are we meant to get out of here?"

"I don't know. Do I have to think of everything?" Bombmon 2 said.

"Fine. Maybe we can get one of those birds to fly us out or something?" Bombmon 1 said.

"I don't like the look of those birds. They look like they're waiting for something to happen." Bombmon 2 said wary.

"And I was actually being sarcastic. Like we're going to get a lift from a bird. Most Digimon don't even want to go near us and I don't even think those are Digimon." Bombmon 1 said.

"I don't think anything here besides us is a Digimon." Bombmon 2 grimaced as they saw another Uruk being pulled out of the muck. "And I certainly don't think that that I was born like that. But... well... maybe we can get a lift out of here."

"What, on a bird?" Bombmon 1 asked.

"No, not on a bird, you idiot. But maybe we can, I dunno... stow away on one of these creatures. Maybe if we can find a bag or... or a bucket and hide in it then somebody could carry us out of the pit and wouldn't even know that we were there." Bombmon 2 suggested.

Bombmon 1 stared at his buddy for a moment and then let off a small sigh. "Well it's better than anything else I can come up with but still, I get the feeling that this could end very... very badly."

"Well if it does... then we can do for the blow up in people's faces approach. Sound good." Bombmon 2 said.

"Yeah!" Bombmon 1 cheered.

XXX

**The characters I added in are the two Uruk-hai Captains named Mauhur and Lugdush. Next is a Orc Captain name Gurz. And finally are two Dunling warriors named Borgo and Orleth. Their Dunling Chief name Wulf. Those characters are from The Return of Shadows Mod for Battle for Middle Earth.**

**Next story will involve Shoutmon with Gandalf and Deckerdramon with Stingmon and Lilamon are going to meet each other in Fangorn Forest.**

**Next time Chapter 12 Forest Guardians.**


	12. Ch 12 Forest Guardians

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 12 Forest Guardians**

**XXX**

In the river that flows, Deckerdramon and his two companies Stingmon and Lilamon are traveling in the river to search for a town or village. Deckerdramon had been traveling in the same river for hours. But have not found no civilization. What they can see is plains of grassland.

The river was easy to travel for Deckerdramon as he is on Float Mode and traveling up the course of the river.

As Deckerdramon continued swimming the river he spoke up to his companions. "You two see anything?" He asked.

"No Deckerdramon we have not seen anything." Stingmon shook his head.

"Same here." Lilamon shook her head too.

As they continued Lilamon spotted a village ahead.

"I see a village ahead." Lilamon pointed out the direction of the village.

"We should ask the people where we are." Stingmon said as they are heading to the village.

"I will get us there." Deckerdramon said as he approach to the village. When they got closer they see the buildings were made of straw and wood, stone or other stronger and more durable materials. Deckerdramon had seen all kinds of buildings in his time as a Fusion Fighters and Blue Flare.

When they got there what caught their attention more was not the material the buildings were made out of, but rather their condition, they were all completely in ruins. Some had been particularly pulled down and flattened as if trampled by dozens of stamping feet. Others had been set on fire with varying results. Some of them were still burning slowly. Some of them were still standing barely. Others were only recognizable as having once been a building due to the charred lump of ash on the ground where they had once stood.

The three Digimon have seen three of these villages alongside the river and each one the story was the same. There could be no question that the village had been attacked by something. Something violent, aggressive and very evil. In each village they had passed there was no signs of life remaining, either of the attackers or the previous residents, the three Digimon had see plenty of signs of death.

Stingmon and Lilamon both went to search for any survivors in the village, found nothing but ruin buildings. The two of them went back to Deckerdramon to report.

"It is the same as the others Deckerdramon." Stingmon grimly said. "There are no survivors in this village."

"It was awful." Lilamon sadly said. "Who can be cruel to innocent people and kill them."

Deckerdramon was now sure that they are no longer in the Digital World anymore for two reasons. Firstly, attacks such as this would not have gone unnoticed by the members of the Fusion Fighters. King Shoutmon had been adamant that they do whatever it took to ensure they responded to threats the moment they arose, so the three Digimon had done things like place sensors in vulnerable looking villages that would go off if there was an attack, had some subjects posted in most villages so they could send messengers quickly, and send scouts of flying Digimon that answered only to him and their leader, MailBirdramon. They would definitely have heard of attacks on three villages by now if this were their world.

And the other clue was the fact that each village had corpses littered in them. Not only did Digimon not leave corpses behind when they died, they disintegrated into data, these corpses were most definitely humans.

The three Digimon were all saddened and revolted by what they witnessed but they knew there was nothing they could do here. They have arrived too late to help the innocents and they did not have time nor the ability to dig them graves. So they merely passed on sadly, but they were becoming more wary. It was obvious that whatever they ended up, there was definitely some kind of evil at work. And you could never be to careful, even when they are powerful Digimon.

They were not sure how much time has passed as they continued north up the river, but they kept going well through the night and into the next morning. They wondered how many other Digimon friends were in the same situation as them. Wandering in the wild with no idea where they are or where they are going. Some of the smaller and younger ones might be breaking down with fear.

They need to move quickly.

And so they did. And, eventually they came across a forest.

When they spotted in a distance, Deckerdramon chuckled. "Excellent." He said.

"That forest does reminded of home back where we live at." Stingmon said.

"Yes, we can take cover in the trees." Lilamon happily said.

"The forest will be a much better place to live than these plains for anybody. Perhaps we will find more luck beneath the trees." Deckerdramon said as they moved on with renewed purpose, noting that the river course would lead them straight towards the trees.

Eventually they pulled to a stop, slowing their progress until Deckerdramon, Stingmon and Lilamon were now facing the forest. The forest was dark since there are a lot of trees blocking the light, but the darkness they could see between those trees was darkness of a whole different level. It was just there, it was almost foreboding, as if it were alive. The shadows seemed to curdle and lengthen and shorten as if they had wills of their own.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Stingmon said as he did not like the look of the forest.

"I maybe a plant Digimon, but I can feel anger in this forest." Lilamon said as she can feel the forest give off.

As the three of them stare at the forest they see some trees are twisted and their roots and branches seemed stretch out as much as possible in any and every direction.

Even Deckerdramon, who had face countless of foes in battle and had enough firepower to obliterate a small village in five seconds, hesitated at the sight of this forest, and wondered if perhaps heading into those trees would be a good move after all.

Especially since he was sure that some of these trees had shifted position a little bit since had begun staring at them.

Nevertheless, the three Digimon put aside the feelings of doubt within them. They had no luck out on the open plains so the forest would now be their best bet.

"Let's go in and search for the others." He move up in the river.

"We will follow your lead." Stingmon said as he was on his back.

"I don't like the feeling of this place." Lilamon said worryingly as she was on Deckerdramon's back.

The forest remained silent and still as the three Digimon approached, but they kept on guard and other senses turned just in case. There was something about this forest that was just not... normal.

They were under the shadows and it took their eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. The river they are traveling up was now much thinner and Deckerdramon had travel in the path of the river and Stingmon and Lilamon both were on Deckerdramon's back. There was no breeze now. Next to no sunlight, no bird song... if fact no sound at all but for the faint rippling river and some sort of... slow groaning sound coming from... all around them.

What have I got myself into? Deckerdramon thought as he and his two companies pressed themselves on.

XXX

"WOOOHOOO! YES! THIS TAKES ME BACK!"

Gandalf chuckled at the actions of his fellow passenger. For a noble King of Digimon, Shoutmon wasn't particularly be having with decorum and grace at the moment. The two of them had been riding through the night, but come the dawn and Gandalf had urged the horse, Shadowfax, to pick up speed even farther and how they were hurrying across the plains of Rohan at an incredible speed, and Shadowfax didn't look a least bit tired.

And Shoutmon was currently standing precariously at the base of Shadowfax's neck, supporting himself with a hand on the back of the horse's head, with the other fist raised into the air as he whooped and hollered, clearly enjoying the wind ride across the plains and grinning almost from ear to ear.

Shoutmon was, of course, no stranger to riding on larger creatures. Ballistamon had given him lifts for many years and there were numerous times when he had ridden Dorulumon into battle or other dangerous situations during the war and many times afterwards. But mostly since he has assumed the role of King the situation had called for seriousness on his part, he had not had the opportunity recently to just enjoy himself as they pelted along. And though this situation was still a serious one, given he had been separated from his friends and all, Shadowfax's sheer speed had eventually gotten the better of the King and he was really letting rip now.

Shoutmon looked back at the White Wizard and shouted over the rushing wind that Shadowfax was practically producing from his sheer speed. "Doesn't your horse need a rest yet? We've been running for about half a day now haven't we?"

"Shadowfax is more than capable of running for a week without tiring." Gandalf replied, with a hint of pride in his voice. "He is part of a special breed of horses called the Mearas and even among Mearas Shadowfax is the fittest and strongest. He was given the title, the Lord of Horses by the people who bred him in Rohan."

Shadowfax whined, as if he had understood that remark and was thanking them for the praise and, as if to prove what Gandalf had just said as he galloped up the side to a steep, rocky incline and bounded right off its summit, sailing out through thin air as if jumping over a giant hurdle and landing with a spray of dirt kicked up from under his hooves but still running almost full speed. He seemed to take everything in his stride.

"This is awesome!" Shoutmon grinned, his yellow scarf streaming in the slipstream from the horse's run and almost hitting Gandalf in the face. "And you're pretty good rider. For a old man."

Gandalf actually laughed. "Shadowfax would not allow me to fall unless I wanted to. But I have had quite a bit of experience with horses as I have walked this world for three thousand lives of Men."

"That long, huh?" Shoutmon blinked. "Yeesh. And I thought Jijimon was old. Still, at least you don't seem to be going senile like he is. Please, don't try opening a door by farting at it."

Gandalf blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Long story." Shoutmon grinned. "Suffice to say we had to get past this large door in a place called the Sand Zone to find a treasure that would help us win the war against the Bagra Army and that was Jijimon's solution to getting past it. He called it a refreshing wind, though none of us saw it like that of course."

"You are a strange one, Shoutmon." Gandalf mused. "As are most of your party by the sound of things. When my own group arrived at the West Gate of Moria, I too had to figure out away to get pass it to continue our journey to Mordor. Farting at it was not one of the things that never came to my mind."

"I highly doubt it would have worked." Shoutmon chuckled. "And yeah, I guess you could say we're a strange bush. Jijimon will probably be somewhere in this world too if what you told me before is right. Perhaps you'll meet him one day. In fact I hope you do, because that would hopefully mean I reunite with him as well as all the others."

"Indeed." Gandalf agreed. "I would be most interested in meeting your companions. I know very little of your world or your friends and to be quite frank I believe you will be an interesting change of pace for me. I have lived for so long that there is little in this world I have not yet encountered or experienced. You Digimon are something new, and to an old man such as myself that is most welcome."

"Especially since we can help you take out the Dark Lord guy, right?"

"Sauron, yes." Gandalf nodded. "You say that you are powerful creatures and while power is not the only thing that will be required against Sauron, it will be most welcome nonetheless."

"Yeah, we are strong." Shoutmon nodded. "Some of us have enough strength to level a small town in half a minute, if that. But that's not all, we have Wisemon is the smartest guy that I've ever met. Beelzemon can be silent as a ghost when he wants to be. Sparrowmon can travel faster than the speed of sound. Cutemon can heal wounds that would cause slow and painful deaths with ease. Agumon and Gatomon are two of my best fighters. Taomon, Wizardmon and Sorcermon are our best strategists that can come up with a plan to turn the tide of battle."

"Indeed?" Gandalf felt a smile tugging at his lips. "Well then, perhaps we have more than I initially realized with you on our side. Galadriel was right. However, even that will not be enough to win... we must set a trap for Sauron. Fortunately, I do have a plan of sorts, but there are many gaps that have yet to be filled. And hopefully one of those gaps will be closed when we reach the end of our current journey."

"Oh, really?" Shoutmon frowned. "Who is this friend of yours that we're going to meet anyway? You never actually said wh-"

A sudden shadow fell across them and Shoutmon's instincts cause an immediate reactions. His microphone was summoned from thin air and his head snapped upwards as his body tensed, taking in the large creature that was suddenly above them. He stared at it. For a second he thought it could be MailBirdramon, but it was, unfortunately not Beelzemon or Biyomon either because it still had the body of a bird. A very large bird, easily just as big as MailBirdramon himself.

Gandalf reach forward and patted Shadowfax's neck and the horse drew to a stop. He then place a hand on Shoutmon's arm and said. "Stay your staff, Shoutmon. This is a friend."

"It's not a staff. It's a microphone." Shoutmon replied without thinking, but he still remained slightly tense as the bird settled on a large rocky boulder nearby. Its body was covered in grey feathers that interlocked smoothly as if folded its wings to its sides. Its feet were adorned with enormous talons that could each rip Shoutmon's head off if they got the opportunity and the viciously hooked beak on the bird's face looked just as formidable. The giant bird fixed Shoutmon with a fierce and calculating stare with its large yellow eyes, which seemed to be trying to pierce its way into Shoutmon's soul.

Shoutmon stared back without flinching and the bird seemed to appreciate this for some reason, because it nodded at him. It then turned to Gandalf and spoke in a voice that was surprisingly deep, Shoutmon had been expecting a screech for some reason. "I take it that this is the new ally that you mentioned, Gandalf." It said.

"Indeed, he is." Gandalf nodded. "Meet Shoutmon, the Digimon King, and our latest friend in the fight against Sauron."

"King, eh?" The bird turned to give Shoutmon the stare again. "He does not look like much but I can tell that he has guts and bravery apparently."

"I have lot more than that, I can assure you." Shoutmon glared. "Care to test my mettle? I've fought enemies bigger than you."

The bird chuckled wryly. "Spirited too." He said. "I did not wish to offend you, good King. I have no doubt that you are stronger than you look. I have seen it many times before. And it is always nice to meet a fellow monarch."

"Fellow monarch?" Shoutmon blinked. "You're a King too?"

"I prefer the term Lord." The bird replied. "But to all intents and purposes, yes. I am Gwaihir the Windlord, the Lord of the Eagles and ruler of the skies."

"Gwaihir is an old friend of mine." Gandalf explained. "We have faced many trials together and he has helped me numerous times in the past. In fact, very recently, Gwaihir rescued me from where I was imprisoned on the tower of Orthanc by the former White Wizard, Saruman. And he save me again a second time from the peck of a mountain after my fight with the Balrog of Morgoth to Lothlorien, which was where I heard about your arrival to our world."

"And let's not forget the time I rescued you and your companions when you were stuck in the trees with Wargs and Orcs prowling around the trunks." If Eagles could smirk, Gwaihir would probably be doing it, though he seemed to be managing to mostly do it anyway despite his stiff beak.

Gandalf fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Why must you always bring that particular event up? Regardless, I am afraid time is short Gwaihir. Tell me, did you find them?"

"Of course." Gwaihir nodded. "I spied them from miles away, as well as a great many other things. The lands have changed greatly since I last flew over this region Gandalf. The forces of Saruman are already beginning their assault on the north and west territories."

"So I heard." Gandalf sighed thinly. "But what of the others? What is their position?"

"What others?" Shoutmon interjected. "What are we talking about?"

"The rest of the Fellowship." Gandalf related. "I asked Gwaihir to scout out their position for me. There is much that needs to be done and I must meet with them as soon as we finish our current business."

"Ah. Okay." Shoutmon nodded. "So what's the word, Mister bird?"

Gwaihir stared at Shoutmon for several moments. "I do not know how to respond to that." He said. "What is the word?"

"No, I mean, what's the news?" Shoutmon fought down the urge to chuckle.

"Oh. Well, ig appears that your prediction was right, Gandalf. When I spotted them they were heading northwest, in a similar direction to you yourself. They are, I estimate, about a day and a half behind you at a surprisingly fast one considering they were on foot. They spotted me as I flew overhead but I did not descend to speak with them."

"Who was in the party." Gandalf asked.

"Both of the Men, the Elf and Dwarf." Gwaihir responded instantly. "I did not see any Halflings among their group but I am afraid that I did see that they were pursuing what appeared to be a group of Saruman's Uruk-hai, and I was able to pick out two small shapes in their ranks, the size of children, which could have well been two of the Halflings. As to the other two, I could not say. I did not see them."

Gandalf's expression was unreadable, as if he were trying to feel many different things at once and his face did not know which one to express. "Then we can only hope that Galadriel was right and that Frodo decided to continue the journey alone. If the Uruks have captured him then I fear all might be lost already."

"That doesn't sound encouraging." Shoutmon said worryingly.

"I am afraid it was not meant to." Gandalf muttered. "Still, that does not explain where the last two remaining Hobbits are. And I shall have to find a way to deal with the Uruks myself if the rest of the Fellowship cannot catch them in time. If they are heading for Isengard then they will have to be way behind before they get there."

"I could attempt a rescue myself." Gwaihir offered.

"No, Wind Lord." Gandalf replied. "Alas, I fear that this requires a little more delicacy than you might be able to provide. You are a powerful creature, but your attack could lead to the death of the two Hobbits if something went wrong. No, I shall have to think of something myself. And beside that, I believe you have been away from your own people for too long. You must return to the Misty Mountains once more, my friend."

"You do not wish for my help?" Gwaihir cocked his head.

"On the contrary, I fear that with the speed of war is progressing, the Eagles of the North will soon be needed far more than they currently are, and when the time comes, you shall have to lead them Mighty Gwaihir. Leave the Hobbits to me. For now, I would bid you return home and lead the Eagles as you see fit. I hope that we meet again.

"As do I, Gandalf." Gwaihir nodded. He glanced back to Shoutmon and said. "Watch yourself, little one. You might be powerful, but so are many of this world inhabitants. I would hate to hear you had died before I got to see what you are capable of first-talon."

"Little one?" Shoutmon sputtered, but before he could say anything else, Gwaihir was already in flight, throwing himself off the rocks and swooping so low over their heads that his talons almost clipped Gandalf's head before he rose upwards and high into the sky.

As he fly in the distance, Shoutmon said. "Well I think I understand most of that conversation. Sounds like things are getting pretty serious."

"Indeed." Gandalf nodded. "We must press on. Fly Shadowfax. Onward!"

Shadowfax complied instantly with a neigh of determination and sprang forth once more, putting on even greater speed than before as he ran. Nevertheless, before he could get too far, the Shadow of Gwaihir fell over them again as the Eagle descended once more to fly over their heads.

"Oh, and I believe I should mention." He chuckled. "That your Fellowship members had some additional company Gandalf. Some additional company that might be familiar to our red Lizard King. Farewell."

"Wait, what?" Shoutmon blinked. "Familiar?" But Gwaihir has already gone once again, soaring off into the distance. "Hey! Get back here! What do you mean? Do you mean other Digimon? My friends?"

"I would not bother shouting." Gandalf replied. "He has said all he is going to. Still, if there are more Digimon traveling with my own companions then that could be most helpful."

"Yeah." Shoutmon agreed. "And I could meet up with some of the others sooner. How long until we reach this friend of yours?"

"It will be about an hour before we reach his domain." Gandalf replied. "After that, we shall have to find him."

XXX

"This is the domain of your friend?" Shoutmon asked, rather alarmed. Shadowfax had finally pulled to a halt next to what appeared to be a forest, but a forest with the most ugly, bent, contorted and foreboding trees that Shoutmon had ever seen. It reminded him eerily of what Bagramon's Great Demon Palace would have looked like if there had been a forest in it.

"Yes, this is our destination." Gandalf replied as he dismounted smoothly. "This is the Forest of Fangorn, one of the Middle Earth's oldest remaining woods."

"And we have to go in there?" Shoutmon asked. "Looks very, very... sinister to me. Quite creepy."

"Be careful what you say." Gandalf chuckled as the Digimon King hopped off the back of the horse and landed easily. "The forest might not appreciate such descriptions."

Shoutmon's brow raised up. "Your kidding right?"

"Kidding?" Gandalf frowned in bemusement.

"Er... joking." Shoutmon supplied.

"Oh, I assure you I am not joking, Master Shoutmon." The Wizard replied. "I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself, but I would advise you to stick close to me all the same. I have been in this forest many times, the trees know me. You, on the other hand, are a stranger and they are not over fond of strangers these days. They have not been for many long years now."

"Oh lovely." Shoutmon muttered. "Great. Well, let's not keep the creepy forest waiting."

Gandalf nodded and patted Shadowfax's neck, muttering something to the horse. The Mearas turned and walk away. "Shadowfax will not stay out here. Horses do not generally agreed with Fangorn Forest. And one last thing, Shoutmon. No fire. Whatever happens, do not use that fire technique I saw you use before. The trees will get very angry indeed if they think you might try and burn them. And so will my friend for that matter."

Gandalf set off towards the treeline. Shoutmon stared after him for a moment, unsure how to respond to this. They had many plant-like Digimon where he came from but the forests themselves had always been... well... forest. Ordinary forests. But Gandalf was talking as if this one was completely and utterly sentient.

After a moment, he shrugged to himself and said. "Well, if magic exists... magic forests might not be too much of a stretch. Maybe?" And he quickly hurried after the Wizard.

XXX

Shoutmon lost track of time almost immediately as they strayed underneath the trees. After a mere couple of minutes they had already lost sight of the edge of the trees and after that they were in almost complete darkness. No Sun, no Moon, or stars and only the faintest drops of light reaching the floor in certain places. Soon Shoutmon was not sure if they had been there for an hour, two, or just five minutes. It was a very disorienting effect.

The more they went on, the deeper Shoutmon's unease became. He kept a close eye on the trees. Usually when he did this, he wanted to make sure that there are no enemies behind them. But when the enemies might be the trees themselves... that was something new.

Just think of them all as dormant Cherrymon, he thought to himself. And this actually seemed to work, to a degree. It put him in a mind set he was more familiar with.

Although the slow groaning and creaking noises were coming from all around him were still off putting. Whenever he turned around he was pretty sure that he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of his eye as if the trees had been shifting about and suddenly thought, oh, he's looking. Freeze.

The deeper into the woods they traversed the more insistent the groaning noises became and there was the occasional sound like splintering wood, as if the tree roots were shifting underneath the soil. Gandalf, who didn't seem the least bit concerned by any of this, looked back to see Shoutmon peering out into the trees suspiciously, searching for any sign of activity.

"This place is..." Shoutmon muttered. "Dark. And not just the without light kind of dark."

"Fangorn Forest is the nature of a great power." Gandalf told him. "It is one of the places of Middle Earth where the spirits of the earth still reside strongly, and there are other kinds of ancient magic embedded in its structure. It is very old, but with age comes strength. And the trees have seen much since they first began to grow... and they have come to hate much of what they have seen."

"You keep talking as if they have feelings." Shoutmon muttered. And before he could say anything else, there was a loud groan that sounded more like a deep rumble of resentment and anger coming from close by. Shoutmon spun around, but all he could see was a tree looming over the top of him. He blinked. He could have sworn that has been leaning the other way a few moments ago.

"That is because they do." Gandalf warned. "It would be wise to remember that, Shoutmon. Many forest across Middle Earth are more alive than they might at first glance seem. Most have trees that are just trees. This forest is not one of them. These trees... are different. They have hearts, thoughts and minds just as much as any Man, Elf, Dwarf... or indeed, Digimon."

Shoutmon said nothing for a moment. "Well, if that is true... why are they so angry? What reason would trees have to be angry?"

"Trees are ancient creatures. They are slow, they are patient, and they remember." Gandalf said gravely. "They remember everything. Some Man, every Dwarf, every Orc, every being has taken an axe to one of their comrades. They remember every fire that has been taken from them, every one of their number which has destroyed. And so they have come to hate much of the outside world. Of the many races of Middle Earth, few understand the minds of trees anymore. The Elves are the ones that do. And the other... the other has grown distant."

Shoutmon was momentarily stunned. He had heard many strange things from the Digital World, but the enormity of what Gandalf was saying was staggering. If what he said was true, then no wonder the trees did not like strangers. He stepped back away from the truck of the tree and said. "Uh... no hard feelings... friend. I didn't mean to offend you. Oh, and please don't squish me. I only arrived yesterday. I have nothing to do with any of all that."

There was a slight rumbling noise coming from all around them and Shoutmon was pretty sure that a couple of the other trees around him shifted every so slightly.

"Er... was that a good thing?" Shoutmon asked the Wizard.

"Perhaps." Gandalf said. "But the trees are still watching. They are more alert than I remember. The forest mist be waking up."

"And... that's bad? Or good?" Shoutmon asked.

"Good." Gandalf confirmed. "Very good."

"Uh... If you say so." Shoutmon muttered. "So, where's this friend of yours?"

"Not far." Gandalf replied. "He is close now."

XXX

And so he was. Gandalf only led Shoutmon on for a further five minutes, though Shoutmon still couldn't tell exactly how long it was. But eventually the Wizard drew to a stop in front of a tree that seemed to be shorter than most of the others. Its head did not break the canopy of the others and it seemed to be covered in a lot of moss and lichen with a few thin leafy branches protruding out of the top and back.

"Here we are." Gandalf said.

"He lives in this tree?" Shoutmon asked.

Gandalf chuckled. "You have much to learn about our world, Shoutmon. This is no tree."

"What?" Shoutmon blinked. "No, I am pretty sure that's a tree. Look, it's got bark and leaves and everything."

Gandalf did not reply. Instead, he raised his staff and banged the base twice against a small boulder nearby. The sound it made seemed to be absorbed by the closeness of the forest, disappearing into the thick stillness like everything else, but for a moment it was crisp and clear.

For a moment, nothing happened.

And then when Shoutmon looked up at the tree again, he yelped and stumbled backwards, landing on his backside, because he could now see two large amber eyes staring down at him. Eyes which were part of the tree.

The tree moved slightly and Shoutmon stare as he picked out more details. The eyes were situated over a woody knob that was shaped like a human nose, and the long trail of moss that extended down from its resembled a long beard. It was a face. A face on the tree. And, as it moved further, Shoutmon saw it's trunk split into two enormous legs and two extremely long arms with wooden fingers rose up from where they had been hanging limply. The tree was no longer a tree. It had never been a tree at all.

A gap in the mossy beard opened to reveal a mouth in appropriate place on the wooden face and the creature spoke. It was low, rumbling voice that seemed to flow in a slow but steady fashion as if the being had all the time in the world, but seemed to hold behind the deep age and wisdom of the earth itself. It also sounded as if the creature did not actually need to breathe as it spoke.

"Young Master Gandalf." It said. Sounded male, but Shoutmon didn't really know if a walking tree could have a gender. "You have not visited my forest for many years. Much appears to have change in you since I last set eyes on you."

"There have indeed been many things, Fangorn my old friend." Gandalf replied. "The world outside of your forest is in turmoil. The forces of evil are rising once again and I have been selected to replace Saruman as the head of my order."

"Grey turns to White." The tree observed. "It seems Greyhame is no longer a suitable title for you."

"Indeed not."

"Perhaps this is fitting." The tree murmured. "Saruman's mind has changed much over recent years. I have heard that he now consorts with evil and is attempting to create war and death."

"That is much true, I'm afraid." Gandalf sighed. "It is a tragedy to see one so great as he fall so far, but sadly that is indeed what has come to pass."

"Saruman would once come and speak with me on regular occasions." The tree intoned. "But it seems his love for things that grow has diminished. Replaced instead by his desire for cold metal and his vile machines. I have seen columns of smoke rising from his fortress in recent weeks."

"And with smoke there's fire." Gandalf agreed.

The tree-man rumbled with distaste and suppressed anger and there was groan of disapproval that seemed to run through every single tree within earshot. Shoutmon had recovered from his shock by this point. After all, he had seen Woodmon and Cherrymon and other plant Digimon before on many occasions so the idea of walking, talking tree was not that much of a stretch of the imagination, it was just the initial surprise which had gotten to him. Now though, he looked around warily. As a creature with power over fire himself, he felt a little uncomfortable at the sounds of anger emanating all around him at the mere mention of it.

"Er... could somebody tell me what the heck is going on here?" He demanded.

"My apologies, my friend." Gandalf said. "Allow me to introduce you to Fangorn, the forest's namesake and one of the three oldest of his kind left in existence. He is an Ent, a caretaker of trees and the forest and he has been on Middle Earth longer even than I. He also sometimes goes by the name Treebeard."

"An appropriate name." Shoutmon murmured at the long, mossy beard descending down from the Ent's face.

Treebeard stared down at Shoutmon with calculating eyes. They were neither warm or cold... they were mostly just... blank. It was clear he did not know what to think of Shoutmon. Shoutmon looked up into the eyes of this Ent creature and was rather startled when he saw the sheer depths they seemed to go to. They were the color of tree sap, but they appeared like wells... wells that had seen so much and yet so little at the same time. They reminded him a little of Beelzemon, steady, calm and scrutinizing. And slow. Very slow indeed.

"Hrum, hoom." Treebeard murmured. "How strange. Never before have I lain eyes on a creature such as this? You are fortunate that you are Gandalf, for you were not I might have mistaken you for another of Saruman's vile abominations. I have seen some of what he has made from afar, yet you are not like them, I realize. I sense temperament within you but I cannot think of what you are. You do not belong in any of the old lists."

"Lists?" Shoutmon frowned. "What lists?"

"Hasty for knowledge, I see you are." Treebeard rumbled. "I refer to the ancient lists of creatures of the world. Long lists they were, but were supposed to encompass every living creature brought to live in the world by the Valar, excluding the dark creatures of Morgoth, of course. Eldest of all, the Elf-children, Dwarf the deliver, dark are his horses, Ent the earth born, old as mountains, Man the mortal, master of horses. Hoom, there were many, many more besides but places you, I cannot."

"Not surprising really." Shoutmon chuckled. "I'm not exactly from around here."

"Shoutmon is what we might refer to as a Digimon, Treebeard." Gandalf replied. "As his kind only came into our existence yesterday there would be no place for him in the list. He and his kind were sent here by the Valar themselves to help aid in the coming war."

"Hm. I did think I felt a change in the world but last sun..." Treebeard muttered. " An alteration in the earth that might have consequences for all."

"That was probably us." Shoutmon conceded. "You haven't seen anything else new have you? Odds are it was probably a Digimon if you didn't recognize it."

"Nothing have I seen except for the strange new breed of Orc that now run across the open spaces." Treebeard shook his head. "A most foul abomination they are, able to endure Sum and running with the strength of Men."

"So you haven't seen anything either?" Shoutmon grumbled. "Brilliant."

"No, don't be hasty." Treebeard chided him as if he were a young child. "Things will come to those who wait."

"Including death." Gandalf replied. "While I admire your steady nature, Treebeard, I fear that if ever there were were as a time for haste it would be now. War is coming, and when it arrives, it will affect all, including you, your brethren and your tree's

Treebeard's head slowly turned around to look back at Gandalf. "For one so old, Gandalf, you are remarkably quick. Haste leads to rashness and rashness can lead to poor judgment and bad decisions. Patience can bring many rewards to those who have it. This Digimon friend of yours may be one example of that."

"Perhaps." Gandalf agreed. "But unfortunately Sauron will not see it that way. The soon sooner he can conquer this world, the better in his view, and the people must be ready for him when he arrives, or they shall be caught flat footed, including your own. Sauron will destroy everything in his path, including the forest which you hold so dear. Fangorn is many times smaller now than it once was. Losing its great dynasty would indeed be tragedy."

"Hm, this war is the war of Men." Treebeard grumbled. "It is with them that the darkness has its quarrel, not with us. We have changed little over the years, Gandalf, but we have seen the world change around us. We witnessed the rise of Sauron before and we were left well alone. You assume this time will be different?"

"Indeed I do." Gandalf nodded. "Sauron's rise was thwarted before from the Last Alliance was many years to prepare for their assault. Sauron will be quicker this time. He will drive his Orcs onward from the southeast and take all in his path."

"Got that right." Shoutmon agreed. "If Sauron's anything like Bagramon, he'll want to mold everything in this world into something he likes. Those he doesn't kill will suffer. They always do."

"Hroom." Treebeard turned back to Shoutmon again. "You have face great evil before then." He surmised. "War may affect everyone but it affects them in different ways. Fighting for the world is not my duty. We Ents were meant to guard the forests and that is what we shall do until the forests fade away. Perhaps if Sauron makes a move against us then act we will, but we do not have any business with him as of yet."

"Well, make it your business then!" Shoutmon suddenly cried. "You would turn your back on those that needed help?"

"The world has turned its back on us." Treebeard responded sagely. "Men are little different from those that they fight. They have spread across the four corners of this world, imposing themselves on everything before them. They care not for what they despoil, including the forests, yet they claim they are different from Orcs. Men are interested in little but themselves. The forests have fallen under their hand and the time of the Elves and the Ents and the trees draws ever closer to an end."

"Well maybe." Shoutmon grunted. "But still, are you telling me that if a human, a Man, whatever, was fighting for his life against a bunch of bad guys right under your nose, you would merely let the guy be killed?"

Treebeard looked affronted. "Many Men do have good hearts, but it is their ignorance that is the greatest bane on the world."

"That does not answer my question." Shoutmon glowered.

"You are hastier then I assumed, I see." Treebeard replied. "Hrum, but the answer is of course, I would help him. Orcs have no place in this world. They were brought into it by foul sorcery and evil, as were the Trolls. The Trolls especially are an affront to everything Entish. I would not stand by as they ravaged our land."

"Well then." Shoutmon pointed up at him. "If you wouldn't leave someone to die when they're in front of you, why should you leave many others to die by not going out to help them, huh? You'd wait until they come to get you that we are far, far weaker than we could ever be when united."

Treebeard continued to regard Shoutmon for what felt like a full ten minutes, but was in reality just one, before he said anything else. When he did say it, he said. "Root and twig, you are something very different indeed. You speak with such conviction for your stature."

"That's right." Shoutmon scoffed. "I know better than most how combining strength builds it."

"And he is right." Gandalf nodded, sending Shoutmon a smile of gratitude. "I will not make any demands of you, Treebeard. You are the master of this realm after all and we are in your land. However, I would request that you at least consider our words. Sauron understands the strength of combining forces just as well, and even now he calls as many evil creatures and races as he can to his cause. It is time, my old friend."

"Time is as steady as everything else for an Ent." Treebeard responded. "But what time would you say it is?"

"I would request that you would discuss at the Entmoot once again." Gandalf replied. "Only you can decide whether you will help in the war which is consuming the world and I trust in your judgment, Treebeard. I feel that the Ents have more to give to the world than they currently are. You must decide, and soon, whether to fight for us. Saruman the White is in league with the enemy now and he is your neighbor. The danger may be closer than you would like to think."

Treebeard rumbled to himself. "Not since the Second Age have Ents gathered, Gandalf. We do not have the strength that we once had."

"Perhaps." The Wizard said again. "But I believe you have more than you think you do."

Treebeard looked like he was about to say something else after a brief moment's pause. But something else interrupted him before he could manage it. One of the nearby trees visible started to move, to shake slightly even though there was absolutely no wind to cause it to do so. A groaning that was so low it was almost guttural started up around them as other trees began to shift. Treebeard looked up at them, eyes narrowing slightly as he listened to the noise.

"Er... what's going on?" Shoutmon asked, edging away from the nearest tree.

"The trees are speaking to one another." Gandalf said, with a frown. "They are agitated."

"That groaning noise is tree-talk?" Shoutmon asked.

"Indeed." The Wizard nodded. "Few are able to understand what trees are capable of understanding one another. Treebeard, what news?"

"Something comes." Treebeard replied, with a slight frown. "Something unusual. The trees are... growing restless. They are awaking faster then I had anticipated and now they are saying that something is approaching. Something which has unsettled them. I must investigate."

Gandalf had, throughout his time, rarely seen an Ent move at any pace except a slow, striding walk, but evidently the disruption to his beloved trees was more than enough to get this Ent moving quickly. He stepped forward, past the Wizard and the small Digimon and moved away into the forest at what might be a brisk pace for an Ent, but was actually quite fast considering the size of his legs meant that his strides were far longer than anything other humanoids might be able to manage.

"Come." Gandalf said, nodding in the direction that Treebeard had taken. "Whatever is taking place must be significant to have this effect on the trees of the forest. And our business with Treebeard is not yet concluded either."

"Well, if there is a threat." Shoutmon growled, raising his microphone and patting the bulbous tip into the palm of one hand. "Then they might have found a little more than they bargained for." And the Digimon King charged after Treebeard with Gandalf in hot pursuit, leaping over tree roots with easy bounds and following the huge depressions in the ground made by Treebeard's every footsteps. Gandalf held his staff close and his other hand stayed towards the hilt of his sword, Glamdring. He hoped he would have to use neither, but he knew that whatever this was, it was likely to be more than a simple Orc raiding party.

XXX

Deckerdramon had pass up the river along with Lilamon and Stingmon as they entered the forest. They see this forest was deserted of life as the plains, lots of plants but no animals of any kind. Perhaps the birds had more sense to live in a place like this. Everything seemed thick and slow and dense, even the air around them as if it was pushing down on them and attempting to force them underwater.

And the three Digimon could never shake the feeling that they were being watched by something.

Eventually, the river had tapered out and grown even thinner, too thin for Deckerdramon to navigate his way through. He sighed as he look up at his two passengers on his back. "Well, this is the end of the river." He said. "We will have to go on foot."

"We will follow your lead Deckerdramon." Stingmon said. "But there is something strange in this forest I don't like." As Stingmon jump off Deckerdramon's back on the forest ground.

"I agree with you Stingmon." Lilamon nervously said as she stand close to Stingmon. "This forest is giving off a sense of foreboding and anger in this place." Stingmon help Lilamon to climb down to the ground.

"I know what you mean." Deckerdramon said as his legs folded outwards and returned to their original position, while his back-launchers shifted back down to their prime position for firing, pulling himself out of Float Mode and into his normal form. As he touched the bottom of the shallow river he motored himself forward, forcing himself up the shallow bank and onto the first openly large space amongst the trees that he could find. Lilamon and Stingmon followed him.

They were rather surprised when the trees reacted to this and the nearest ones to them seemed to try and back away, though it could have been a trick of light, or lack of light. Regardless, the groaning sounds that continued to resonate all sounds that had continued to resonate all around them increased the moment Deckerdramon pulled out of the river and they could distinctly hear sounds of rushing branches coming from every direction.

The enormous alligator, the insectoid and the fairy plant Digimon all stood there for a while, listening and watching, but nothing else other than that seemed to happen for a while so they merely shut their eyes and try to bolt out the noise with both Stingmon and Lilamon both covering their ears. Deckerdramon was giving himself some rest as he tried to think what his next move would be.

This forest was unlikely to get them anywhere. They had not been in it for long but the river was too thin for them to continue effectively and we're pretty sure that traveling with Deckerdramon's large and rather unwieldy body through the dense trees would not be wise for a course of action they could take, turn back and head back out across the plains, this time on the ground. It seemed like a lousy option, but it was the best they really had.

After a while though, the three Digimon heard something which caused their eyes to open. Something like heavy footsteps, muffled by the sound of the forest but still distinctly footsteps. Ones which were getting closer. Deckerdramon frowned, wondering if his luck was in. Perhaps this was another Digimon approaching who could help them find out where they are. They slowly turned themselves around so they were facing the direction of the noise and waited for the perpetrator to appear.

When it did, the three Digimon blinked at the sight of a walking tree-like creature which came into view ahead of them. It was long, mossy hair stretched down past its hips and it had a look of both confusion and wariness in its amber eyes.

The four creatures stared at each other for a while before the newcomer moved first, stepping forward and saying. "You three have disturb the forest, strangers. The trees do not take your presence here. They say that you reek of industry and metal and smoke. They are angry. You all must leave." He said as he pointed at Deckerdramon.

Deckerdramon eyes rolled to the side, able to see the trees a little more clearly. Some of them did still appear to be shifting uneasily. Deckerdramon's eyes narrowed, wondering once again just where they are. Stingmon and Lilamon were both looking at the tree-like creature and look back to Deckerdramon.

He nodded to them and turned to the creature. "I beg your pardon, good tree." He said, turning his eyes back to face the new person. "It was not our intention to cause disruption in your home. We are very lost in our way and we are seeking to find our friends."

"Your friends?" The tree rumbled. "Perhaps you are referring to Orcs? And I am not a tree. I am an Ent, a guardian of the forest."

Lilamon and Stingmon both look at each other wondering what Orcs and Ent. But were surprised to hear that he was a Forest Guardian.

"Guardian of the Forest?" Deckerdramon repeated. "Well, fancy that. A noble title, if I do say so myself."

"You have an eloquent tongue." The Ent stated. "Hum, hroom, but your body, your form... this can only be the work of Saruman. But the other two your with do not look like creations of the Wizard. You bear the mark of his foul machines and contraptions. A body of metal is no natural thing. It this some treachery of the Wizard? Are you one of his creations?"

Deckerdramon, Stingmon and Lilamon all frown about who is the White Wizard. They do know two Wizard Digimon are Wizardmon and Sorcermon. Deckerdramon speak. "I am afraid I have not the foggiest idea what you are talking about." He said. "Who is the Wizard you speak of? I know two Wizards that are our friends. And I assure you that I was not created by some magic. I was born into my world just as the other two I have traveled with. And my metal body is perfectly natural where I am from, I guarantee it."

"And perchance where you all from a place would be Isengard?" The Ent's rumblings were growing stronger as he grew more suspicious. He was spreading his legs out and reaching down with his enormous gnarled hands to where a large boulder was on the ground, as if making ready to scoop it up and throw it at them.

"Now hold on." Deckerdramon protested. "What have we done to deserve such aggression from you, Master Ent. We did not wish to cause you unease and if you so desire we shall leave immediately. But..."

"We don't want to destroy your forest." Lilamon said before Deckerdramon could say something else. "We are only looking for our friends."

"That's right." Stingmon said. "We are lost in this strange world and we cannot go back."

Before anyone else is going to speak, a new voice speak. "Oh, I don't believe it." Cried a familiar voice from nearby. "Deckerdramon, you old croc! Lilamon, Stingmon, you two lovely couple! It's so great to see you all!"

The Ent and three Digimon faltered as the red form of Shoutmon bounded past the Ent and skidded to a halt in front of the three Digimon, while a man in white robes stepped up from the same direction. Deckerdramon, Lilamon and Stingmon all took one look at Shoutmon and Deckerdramon let loose an uproarious bellow of laughter, lifting himself up onto his back legs slightly for a moment before crashing down again with a colossal thump. Lilamon and Stingmon laugh to happily to see Shoutmon.

"My liege." Deckerdramon laugh.

"It is good to see you my King." Stingmon was laughing too as he keeled to Shoutmon.

"It was nice to see you okay my lord." Lilamon smiled as she too keeled to Shoutmon.

"Shoutmon. Thank the Code Crown we have found someone at last. We've been wondering around for over half a day without the faintest idea where we are or what's going on. But at least we finally found you, my Kings." Deckerdramon said to Shoutmon.

"And a good thing too from the looks of things." Shoutmon laughed. "It sure as heck is good to see some familiar faces after all this madness that's been going on recently. But have you guys seen any of the others?"

Deckerdramon, Lilamon and Stingmon all shook their heads slightly, smoke unfurling out of the vents of the bottom of Deckerdramon's snout as he did so. "I'm afraid not. We have found ourselves close to the river when we woken up after the celebration and we forge our way up stream in the hope that we found someone or something but until you we have seen nothing at all. No sign of anyone else I'm afraid."

Shoutmon grimaced. "Well, you can't have everything I suppose, but still, running into you three again is more than enough. I already feel a lot better knowing that the Digimon who could probably destroy our own castle in a single move is back and the two lovers that can fight alongside us."

Deckerdramon chuckled. "And I feel better knowing that the King is safe."

Stingmon chuckled too. "We will stand with you King Shoutmon."

"We will fight with you to the end." Lilamon smiled.

Shoutmon looked a little uneasy for a split second. Deckerdramon's statement and Lilamon and Stingmon's devotion reminded him of self-confidence issues that he'd been having recently. If everything that Gandalf had said about this world and why the Code Crown had sent them here was true then he would indeed need to be responsible for everything that happened next, like a King should be. He already knew that this was going to be the greatest challenge he had to face since rising to the throne by far leading his Digimon, if he found the rest of them, into alien territory.

And, as before, he was not entirely sure he was up to it.

Still, he quickly wiped the unease off his face and grinned. There was no need to tell Deckerdramon, Lilamon and Stingmon about his own doubts right now. They had enough problems to worry about besides the fact that the King didn't know if he could lead or not.

"I see you've picked up some new friends, Shoutmon." Deckerdramon looked up at the Ent and the Wizard once again. "Care to introduce us? And perhaps tell us what is going on?"

"What is going on is just about everything we know had been turned on its head." Shoutmon muttered. "But yeah, I can introduce you guys. This is Gandalf, and Big, Tall, Leafy here is Treebeard."

"Then perhaps we are in the Human World?" Deckerdramon enquired, taking in Gandalf's appearance.

"Are we truly in the Human World, Shoutmon?" Lilamon asked.

"He's not human. He's a... I forget the word. Let's just go with Wizard, for now. And no this is not the Human World. Anyway, you guys, this is Deckerdramon, one of the most, if not the absolute most, powerful Digimon in my personal forces, the Fusion Fighters United Army. When I was talking about some of my friends who could level villages instantly, this guy is primarily who I had in mind." Shoutmon turn to Lilamon and Stingmon. "The Insectoid on the left is Stingmon, he is one of the fighters in my army. And last is the fairy plant on the right is Lilamon, she is kind and caring fighter I know. The two of them fight alongside with Deckerdramon and the two of them are mates."

"I see that you were not... kidding... as you put it." Even Gandalf seemed to find himself slightly stunned and amazed as he took in the sight of the three Digimon stand before him, one of them larger than him and the other two were human size. "If they are indeed Digimon, then you were not exaggerating when you said that you could come in many forms."

"Course I wasn't." Shoutmon snorted, patting Deckerdramon's huge, armoured leg. "And I can tell you, now that we've got Deckerdramon and his missiles on our side, and his two followers Lilamon and Stingmon as both flyers and fighters as well, the forces of this Sauron guy are going to tremble themselves in fear and running the other way, you mark my words."

"Sauron does have many large and powerful creatures on his side as well." Gandalf cautioned. "But perhaps you, Deckerdramon, Stingmon, Lilamon, could put even many of them in an uneasy state of mind."

"Who exactly are we talking about?" Deckerdramon asked. "Who is Sauron?"

"Is he an evil version of Bagramon?" Stingmon asked.

"If so, we will fight alongside you Shoutmon." Lilamon said.

"Well." Shoutmon shrugged. "It's quite a long story I'm afraid. And I already can't remember about half of it."

"Your memory is improving then." Deckerdramon chuckled, blowing more steam from his vents. Stingmon and Lilamon both chuckled too.

"Watch it." Shoutmon glared at him. "I am not above bashing you in the nose, Big Guy."

Treebeard, who had remained silent of observing since Shoutmon had entered the picture, chose this moment to speak up again. "Hrum, hm, you say that you four are Digimon? Yet your body shapes are so vastly different. The lists of old may not apply to you, but they agree that members of the same species are supposed to be similar to one another, excluding differences between male and female."

"Where Digimon are concerned, anything is possible." Shoutmon shrugged. "And we tend to break the usual rules."

"So, then you three are not servants of the fallen Wizard?" Treebeard asked for confirmation. "You do not associate yourselves with the vile, destructive Orcs of the mountains."

"If you are referring to the Wizard you mentioned earlier then I have never heard of him before today." Deckerdramon replied evenly. "I certainly do not serve him. I serve only King Shoutmon or Sorcermon and the Generals of our army, Christopher or Mickey or Nene. And since we have not seen them in many years, Shoutmon and Sorcermon are the only two I answer to."

"We serve only Deckerdramon, King Shoutmon and Sorcermon as our leaders." Stingmon said.

"We are to loyal to them to the end and to help them." Lilamon said.

"And do you, believed their tale, Gandalf?" The Ent looked down at his friend.

"I do." Gandalf nodded. "Shoutmon would have little reason to lie about this and the Lady Galadriel has personally vouched that the Digimon can be trusted. Those three, Deckerdramon, Lilamon, and Stingmon are indeed Digimon and therefore are allies of ours."

Treebeard coughed and had the decency to look mildly embarrassed. "Hoom, then I must beg your forgiveness." He said, turning to Deckerdramon, Stingmon, and Lilamon once more and lowering his head. "In my need to protect the trees I seem to have ignored my own motto and acted to haste. You see, Gandalf, how haste can lead to poor judgment and incorrect decisions. I assumed that those three. Deckerdramon, Lilamon, and Stingmon were dark creatures created at Isengard by the traitorous Wizard, and in my haste I almost acted rashly. I must remember to pace myself further in the future. And I see that Lilamon is a plant creature that is to kind to be made for evil."

"We accept your apology Treebeard." Lilamon said. "We understand you were protecting your home."

"These are difficult times, Treebeard." Gandalf nodded. "As I said they would be. And I am sure that Deckerdramon, Stingmon, and Lilamon all understand your need to protect your home."

"Naturally." Deckerdramon agreed somberly. "I have did that in the past myself. You need not worry, Treebeard. I do forgive you. I can sense strong love emanating from within you, love for everything that you have cared for since you first came to being, love for everything that grows and your forest and your home. I sense true self through that love and I understand your position."

"I too did the same as well." Stingmon said. "I acted to quickly to judge and without thinking."

"Deckerdramon is the Guardian of Love in our world." Shoutmon explained. "He's able to judge a person's character almost immediately by how much love they hold in their hearts, allowing him to recognize enemies and friends on sight. And he will only ally himself with those who have very strong love in their hearts."

"Love is a most important commodity." Gandalf smiled warmly. "One of the most valuable there is and one that our enemy does not understand and seeks to eradicate. The world would truly be an empty place without it. Tell me, good Deckerdramon, what do you sense coming from my own heart."

Deckerdramon fixed Gandalf with one large, red eye for a moment, which then closed as if basking in something. "Oh, you're love burns like the sun, Master Wizard. I can sense your strong feelings for everything that you see around you that is good, and all the people and races that you consider under your care. You have lived for so long now, I can tell, and your love has grown exponentially with each passing year. And... while there are many who you constantly worry for, you also care deeply for all people you consider free, even those who are less than receptive to in."

He opened his eyes and added. "You understand love at its deepest heart and in all its forms. And you wish to use that love, inspire it in others and teach them to stand together. Strong love. You have it in abundance."

"More than Christopher?" Shoutmon raised a brow.

Deckerdramon laughed. "Perhaps even more than Christopher." He said. "But do not tell him I said that if we ever come across our Generals again?"

"Why? Is the big, powerful Deckerdramon worried he'll upset him? Or are you afraid of getting scolded off?" Shoutmon joking said.

"If you were not the King, I would tell you to be quite." Deckerdramon muttered. Shoutmon snickered into a hand. Stingmon and Lilamon both chuckled too.

Gandalf had actually felt his self-esteem lift when he listened to Deckerdramon's description of hi. "I thank you for your kind words, Master Deckerdramon." He said as he look at Lilamon and Stingmon. "You two as well Stingmon and Lilamon. And I can see why you Deckerdramon can make a fine friend and ally in the coming fight."

"You have no idea." Shoutmon grinned. "No, seriously, you don't. You've never seen Deckerdramon in action before as well as Lilamon and Stingmon. The things I seen Deckerdramon do are mind blowing at times. The sheer amount of firepower he possesses can sometimes be astonishing. And if you guys don't even have technology in this world... then you've never seen missiles in action before, have you?" He grinned as he continues. "Lilamon is a person to care for the people and she protects them with her life. And Stingmon is a trained assassin to fight only evil and he is willing to protect the people as well."

"I see. We have never had much need for this technology." Gandalf said, with slight distaste. "It is a word that is new to our world, as is another word, industry. Saruman is, even now, creating weapons and machines which might well do similar things to your friend here."

"I doubt they'd be as good." Shoutmon chuckled. "And it's not all bad you know. From what I know of things like industry, which is not much admittedly, it can be just as useful to build as to destroy. It's just the problem is for some people it's difficult to always know which one they are doing. Though I bet it's destroy all the way with Saruman, right?"

"Sadly yes." Gandalf nodded. "Nevertheless, the world has gone through three ages without the need for this new found industry and the way it despoils the natural world and I do not believe we shall need it in the future. Though I do not wish to cause offence to you Digimon if you would rather use it."

"We don't use it a whole lot ourselves really." Shoutmon shrugged. "It's just that some of us, like Deckerdramon here, are technologically built."

"Though I assure you I am not a metal creature." Deckerdramon replied. "I am quite flesh underneath all this armor."

The rumbling of trees grew more insistent. Treebeard shook his head. "They do not believe you. They say you are a destroyer, who could wreck everything in your path, and that all things like you are made only to cut and break and kill them and their brethren. They have long seen Men and others like them destroy their fallen comrades and burn them. And you have fire within you. You release smoke. You are a destroyer of trees just as Men are."

"Can you not tell them that they have it wrong?" Deckerdramon asked.

"The trees have feelings." Treebeard replied. "Their hate for things like you is strong and set deeper than their roots. They will not change their thoughts on you easily. I would not wish to make such decision in haste, but perhaps it would be better for you to leave the forest now. The forest is waking up and they may not remain idle for long."

"The trees will attack us?" Shoutmon asked. "Seriously?"

"Any of the trees here are just trees." Gandalf said. "But not all. Many of them are more than they seem, Shoutmon. And they have the strength of the ages within their wooden bodies."

"They say the same to you, Shoutmon." Treebeard agreed. "They say that they smell fire on you too."

"Smell?" Shoutmon blinked. "Trees can smell?"

"Is that way the trees are so aggressive?" Lilamon asked.

"Is it true that trees hate fire so much?" Stingmon asked as well.

Before Gandalf or Treebeard could answer those questions, Deckerdramon decided to do something about the incessant groaning. He opened his jaws wide open, which momentarily surprised both Gandalf and Treebeard as he not been opening his jaws to speak, his voice had slightly echo like quality to it, and reared up onto his hind legs a far distance. His back and shoulders push up against the canopy and the trees seemed to retract from his his touch and he let out a bellow which shook the area for miles around.

"Ancient Forest." Deckerdramon cried. "I know that you fear me and that you would rather see me gone, but I can tell you now that I am not your enemy. I will never be the enemy of the Forest, of any Forest. Apparently you have a Guardian in the form of this Ent and possibly more others of his kind here already, and in that instance I am not so different from them. For back in my world, I too was a Guardian of the Forest."

The trees actually quieted, the groans and moans reduced to a minimum and an intense and thick air of silence settled over the forest, one that seemed like the silence of many people listening attentively to what was going on.

Treebeard looked surprised. "You? A Forest Guardian?" He asked.

"Indeed." Deckerdramon nodded. "Perhaps not the same sense as you in guarding and caring for the trees, but back in the Digital World, we had a large number of territories which we called Zones. One of these Zones was the Forest Zone. It was a single big woodland filled with trees far taller than any around here and numerous plant and insect Digimon alike. I may be a Guardian of Love, but I was also the Guardian of Forest Zone and it was my duty to protect it and its inhabitants from any threat that sought to destroy both land and life. So, in many ways, perhaps I am similar to you Ents. I lived in a great temple, filled with an abundance of life and protect the most sacred treasure of the realm to ensure that nothing could change the forest to its purposes."

"Hey, he's right." Shoutmon nodded, a grin on his jagged mouth. "He and his two closest followers Lilamon and Stingmon, both helped to defend everything and everyone from the Bagra Army when they invaded. The Forest Zone was a place where they tried for months to invade without success thanks to Deckerdramon and his subordinates."

"That is right." Deckerdramon rumbled. "And while I might not be a Forest Guardian in the same sense as an Ent, I am still one in some sense. I regard the Forest as my first home, and I will always defend it, never destroy it. You have nothing to fear from me."

"How about me and Stingmon do the Love Dance for you guys." Lilamon said as she and Stingmon were about to dance.

"Uh, maybe another time Lilamon." Shoutmon said to her. "Only we get back to our world, you guys are okay with that."

"I understood Shoutmon." Lilamon said as she and Stingmon both stop from doing the Love Dance.

"That Dance is proof that you have love in your heart." Deckerdramon object. "And perhaps this forest could do with a little more of it."

The trees rumbling grew in pitch again but they did not rise the same heights as before. Treebeard listened to them for a few moments and then gave an earthy chuckle. "Perhaps the trees were too hasty to jump to a conclusion themselves. They are still suspicious and they claim that they will be watching, but they have subsided their complaints for now. Hrum, hoom, you are most certainly an odd bunch, you Digimon. Root and twig, you are. Hm."

"I most certainly agree." Gandalf nodded. "A strange bunch for strange times. If there are as many of you in our world as you think there might be then I must confess I am eager to make the acquaintance of the others, and there has been little that has made me eager for many long years now."

"You flatter us, sir." Deckerdramon laugh as he settled back down onto his front feet. Lilamon and Stingmon both laugh too. "Now that I at least have some form of trust from the forest perhaps somebody could actually tell us more about our current situation. If this is not the Human World or the Digital World, then where actually are we?"

"I want to know to." Stingmon asked.

"Alright, here's that long story which I mentioned before." Shoutmon grinned, and he began to explain everything to Deckerdramon, Lilamon and Stingmon.

As he did, Gandalf stepped around to face Treebeard again and said. "Well, Treebeard? Do you believe that the Digimon are worthy of your trust now?"

"Hrum... still in two minds, I am, Gandalf." Treebeard replied. "The trees are right, those creatures do not feel like any other we have experienced and still the two smell of fire and smoke and the other two don't. But I shall not by hasty. I shall make my decision when I have seen more of their activity."

"And something tells me you may see quite a bit more of what they can do in the future." Gandalf said. "I have the beginning of an idea, Treebeard. An idea that may help to the end this war and the reign of Sauron forever. But Sauron is a great threat, Saruman is the closer and more Immediate one. We must end his misguided attack on the world now before we can truly begin our attempt to turn the tables on Saruman. I would ask you once again to consider convening the Entmoot. The Ents must play their part if all the Free Peoples you spoke of in the lists before can remain free."

"There has been no Entmoot since the Second Age, Gandalf." Treebeard replied. "Not since the Entwives..." He stopped and grimaced through his mossy beard and said no more, but he did not need to. Gandalf knew what he was talking about.

"I know my friend." He said. "But all I ask is that you at least discuss it among you and your kin. For I agree with Shoutmon. Either we all unite, or we all fall."

XXX

**The next story will be about Lunamon, Lillymon and the three green Monitamons that are in the Forest of Mirkwood to find a why out.**

**Next time Chapter 13 Mysteries of Mirkwood**


	13. Ch 13 Mysteries of Mirkwood

**The Digimon King And The King of Gondor**

**Chapter ****13 Mysteries of Mirkwood **

**The next chapter is about Lunamon and her group that are lost in the forest of Mirkwood and they are not alone.**

**XXX**

Some of the Digimon that had found themselves in Middle Earth were having a better time of it than others.

And one of those who was not having the best of it were Lunamon and Lillymon. The white rabbit with a moon crest and the flower fairy Digimon were no closer to finding out what had happened to them or where any of the other members of the Fusion Fighters are at, and certainly not any closer to finding a way out of the horrible woodland that they had found themselves in when they had landed here yesterday. Yes, they had three Elite Monitamons with them at the moment and that was a small comfort, as they were certainly better than being all alone. But still, the sheer sense of aloneness that the forest around them produce seemed to be constantly trying to weigh in on them.

And to top things off, Lunamon was holding onto Lillymon as the flower fairy Digimon was in the air flying with her wings, The three green Monitamons were jumping from tree to tree as they followed them.

To recap on what happened since Lunamon, Lillymon and the three Monitamons had encountered one another would not take very long at all. They had simply been wondering in the same direction, or what they assumed was the same direction, in the air around the thick tangle of under growth of the dark forest, for as long as they could.

It had not been easy going for them. They still had no idea where the forest exist is at or if there is a village nearby. The undergrowth of the forest was not a good place to be, with upended roots and vicious thorny shrubs that appeared to be half dead all over the place, as well as several low hanging vines and branches, which made traveling through it hard for a humanoid, even a small one like Lunamon. The thorns and branches scratch at both Lunamon and Lillymon as they were flying through, even it is hard to navigate through the trees as they try to dodge them.

Lillymon was glad she was wearing her boots. She didn't imagine how thorny the ground was like below her.

Lunamon can see thorns around them as she was in the air with Lillymon as they try to get past through the thick forest.

The Monitamons were having a better time than them. Their small bodies and ninja skills enabled them to leap from tree-trunk to tree-trunk with relative ease, higher up and away from the low ground cover in thorns.

Still, at least they could take comfort in fact that they didn't appear to be going in circles. Every so often, they need to rest on the ground for a few minutes to recover before they move on. But the appearance of the forest itself had not changed at all. It was still dark and gloomy, still as eerie and terrifying as it had been since they started out.

Who knew how many hours of jumping, flying or walking they had done since then.

The lack of light was making it difficult for Lillymon in another way too. All Digimon possessed self-healing abilities that humans didn't have hope of matching, grievous injuries taking a relatively short time to heal in comparison. But, being a plant Digimon, Lillymon was able to heal and regain strength much better when she was exposed to sunlight. And here, in this forest, she was not getting none of it. The forest was to thick and everything was far too murky and... darker.

There had been a point where she had found a slender shaft of light that had managed to penetrate all the way down to the floor like some sort of faint spotlight and she had attempted to stand in it for a while to help herself to recover a little bit. But in doing so, everything around her seemed to become even darker and the light, faint as it was, did little to help her to regain her energy.

Lillymon did not stay under the shaft for long. The sheer creepiness of the place compelled her to keep moving. Staying in the same place for any length of time seemed like a foolish and dangerous idea for some reason. Perhaps it was some instinct buried deep into her but she decided to listen to it. Keeping on the move would make you a far less easy target for anything that might be out to get you. Not that anything had been out to get them yet.

XXX

But when night had set in, Lillymon then decided that was enough. They would have to stop, as it was becoming even darker and she could barely see her hand in front of her face. Lunamon on the other hand can see in the dark very will even she is a dark Digimon type. But going ahead now would be a very bad idea. They had to wait for the sun and the little light it gave down here, to return.

The Monitamons had managed to find a large, fallen tree with thick roots that were still half buried in the ground. The five Digimon had landed into the open space between the base of the tree roots, but none of them had slept. It felt uncomfortably like they had been locked in some wooded cage that they could never escape from. But at the same time, it would be difficult for anything else to get in at them, and that made it good enough in their view.

And so they had huddled there, shuddering and breathing shallowly as they listened to the completely dead silence around them.

"Do you think we'll ever find a way out of here?" Monitamon G3 asked nervously.

"What kind of question is that?" Monitamon G1 hissed. "Of course we will... won't we, Lunamon, Lillymon."

"Of course we will." Lillymon nodded.

"We will all get out of here." Lunamon reassured. "We'll get out of this forest." Lunamon said as she was trying to force a smile onto her face as she continued. "I'm sure we will recover and be ready for tomorrow. Then if we haven't found a way out of this forest by then we can get out of here. You'll see."

"Once I have enough rest I will fly us out of this forest." Lillymon said to them.

"You're both very brave, Lunamon, Lillymon." Monitamon G1 muttered. "Much braver than we are."

_Brave? _Lunamon thought to herself, shaking her head. _Oh, I am far from brave. I am terrified. I don't think that there's ever been a time where I've been more scared. I'm the last thing there is from being brave. _She sighed to herself and mentally added, _If I was brave, I would have told Shoutmon how I felt about him a long time ago. I would have fought harder for him when he needed me to. I am definitely not brave._

But then she looked down at the Monitamons and Lillymon and thought, _But the Monitamons are terrified too. I know Lillymon is braver than me. Maybe I can... I don't know. I guess I should at least try and look like I know what I'm doing. Ugh, I am not sure I can do this._

They barely said anything else all through the night. The Monitamons had started to try and tell jokes to one another, Lillymon was watching her surroundings and staying on guard, but eventually the Monitamons had stopped, as even the sound of their own voices seemed to have eerie edges to them in the complete blackness. And Lunamon was beginning to feel the urge to go from beyond scared and into complete panic.

She resident as best she could, wrapped her arms around her dress and pulled her legs close and tried not to shiver too much.

_What would Shoutmon do? _She thought to herself. _Probably just shout at the darkness and throw fireballs at any shadow that moved. What would Beelzemon do? Stay calm probably. How does he even do that?_

Still, nothing happened during the night, although there was a point where they heard some kind of horrible noise coming from somewhere around them. They couldn't tell how far away it was or even what direction it was coming from, but all five of them promptly froze and listened hard with bated breath until long after the sound had gone away. They had no idea what it might have been and to be honest they didn't really want to know.

XXX

Eventually the light, or what little there was of it, returned and the three Monitamons hopped out of their hiding place as both Lunamon and Lillymon scrambled through the thick tree roots. To Lunamon dismay, she found that she had lost her bearings in the darkness while they had searched for shelter. _Great, _She thought. _Some leader I am. Guess I made the right choice not to pursue Shoutmon, I'm definitely not Queen material._

All she could do now was pick a random direction and hope for the best, and so they set off into the woods once more, Lunamon was wrapping her arms around her body and hugging herself as she moved with the three Monitamons bounding through the trees and continually doubling back so that Lunamon and Lillymon could both keep up with their pace.

Hours more has passed like this and once again nothing changed. Lunamon was not only scared but... annoyed. She's very annoyed that this forest seemed to never end. This forest that they had somehow found themselves in didn't even seem to have a limit to it because no matter how far Lunamon walked, there's always seemed to be more of it.

As was it said before, Lunamon and Lillymon both usually liked forests. But not this one. This one was just too malevolent, dark and sinister, like something was attempting to penetrate through her and wrap around their souls and squeeze them. Which was a very disturbing metaphor and Lunamon was not happy with herself for thinking of it.

Eventually, Lunamon just sighed and sat down on a log. This was getting them nowhere. Wandering aimlessly through these woods was not going to do them any favors whatever Lunamon wanted to leave here, as quickly as possible, because with every hour she spent here the icy feeling of barely suppressed dread was creeping further and further up to her spine.

It felt like the forest was one big trap of darkness that was slowly closing in around her and she didn't want that trap to snap shut.

The three Monitamons and Lillymon all notice that she had stopped and they quickly turned back to her, pulling to a stop next to her. "What's wrong?" Monitamon G2 asked with concern. "Did you twist your ankle or something?"

"No, not that." Lunamon shook her head. "But... well... how are you guys feeling?"

"Not good." Monitamon G3 shivered. "This whole place gives me the creeps and I don't know why. Every time I look around a corner I think that there's something coming after me but it turns out to be a shadow." And he bumped the small satellite dish on top of his head. "And I'm not picking up any signals with this thing."

"Me neither." Monitamon G1 agreed. "This whole forest... there's something so wrong about it. It feels like Hell's Field did in some funny way. Like it's been... horribly tainted by something."

"I know what you mean." Lillymon agreed, as she shuddered. "Like there's an ancient dark force spreading through the soul and corrupting every growing thing around. And I don't like it. So I was thinking... can you guys send signals and images to each other, right?"

"This place feels so evil and its not safe here." Lunamon was feeling unease. "Maybe one of you can scout ahead?"

"Yes but, please don't ask us to go out there and try to scout around." Monitamon G2 begged. "I don't want to be anywhere on my own in this place. It gives me the willies."

"The trembles." Monitamon G1 confirmed.

"The shakes." Monitamon G3 added.

"Heebie-jeebies sounds like a childish word and doesn't really befit what I'm feeling right now, but I guess it's the closest thing I can come up with." Lillymon remarked.

"But its not that, I was thinking, could one of you hold onto Lillymon and head up to the top of the trees and take a look around above the forest. It's too dark down here, we can't see anything, except me. We need to have more of a bearing on where we're going." Lunamon said to them.

The three Monitamons glanced at each other.

"Er... why didn't we think of that?" Monitamon G3 asked.

"I was too scared." Monitamon G1 muttered.

"But it's so obvious." Monitamon G2 claimed.

All three of them smacked themselves on the tops of their television monitors that made up their heads and cried. "Oh!"

Despite the intense feeling of foreboding that was still trying to worm its way to the nape of the two females necks, Lunamon and Lillymon both couldn't help but chuckle at the odd behavior of the three little ninjas. Sometimes it was hard to believe they were the elites of their village. But then Lunamon said. "Are you guys up for it then?"

"I'll do it." Monitamon G1 cried. "I want to see some solid daylight again anyway." And he quickly jump on Lillymon's back as she fly up to the top of the trees.

Lunamon lost sight of them quickly as they did this and her eyes widened slightly as she beheld it. "Wow." She said. "Those two are quick."

The other two Monitamons stood tall as they could, while their monitors displayed happy symbols. "We trained hard to be as fast and agile as we possibly could, and Lillymon is capable to defend herself as well." Monitamon G3 declared.

"And it served us well." Monitamon G2 agreed.

Lunamon smiled. But then she tensed visibly. Every moment that they had been in the forest, along with the horrible sense of compassion the forest seemed to produce as well as the menacing sense of ominous, Lunamon had been constantly having, just in the back of her brain, the strange tingling yet horrible sensation of being watched.

But that sensation had just spiked, and she had no idea why.

Slowly, fearing what she would see, she turned back to look over her shoulder.

But there was nothing but the forest through which they had already passed. The shadows might have lengthened and pooled a little bit and seemed to be condensing before her eyes, but that was no different from the rest of the woodland they had already gone through. Scary yes, but not different.

And yet Lunamon couldn't shake that feeling of being observed by something out of sight. It was extremely bone-chilling.

"What is it?" Hissed one of the Monitamons, she couldn't tell which. "Do you see something?"

Lunamon shrugged it off and tried not to shudder before turning back. The feeling did not go away, but she did her best to push it down, but still began listening to the surroundings just in case it was not something to be dismissed. "Nothing." She said quickly, trying to ignore the nervousness that she could clearly see in the quivering two Monitamons, who had wide and fearful eye images on their screens. "Can one of you display on your screen what your friend is seeing?"

"Yes. I'll do it." Monitamon G2 nodded and began to display an image of dark leaves which was shifting and getting lighter as Lillymon and Monitamon G1 that both had ascended into the trees completed the last leg of the flying until they reached the top on the branch that stuck out over the forest and both looking out at the top of the forest, while Lunamon and Monitamon G3 crowed around the image down below and stared at the sights with him.

"It looks a lot better up here." Monitamon G1's voice came through Monitamon G2's speakers.

"I can see the sunlight from here and can feel the wind breeze." Lillymon said at the speaker.

And it did. Lunamon was mildly surprised to find that the top of the forest didn't look anything like it did down here. Here it was dark, scary and evil but up there everything was green, lush and quiet beautiful. It seemed that everything Lunamon knew and loved about nature from the Digital World with thick, rich leaves rolling away into the distance in a dense cover of many different species, types and shades.

It seemed to defy belief that a forest as amazing as what she was seeing had all this shadow and terror at its base.

"It's incredible." Lunamon breathed.

"Yeah." Monitamon G3 agreed. "But I don't see an edge to it. Is there an edge to it?"

Both Monitamon G1 and Lillymon looked around and the image shown by Monitamon G1 as he said. "Uh... no. No, I'm not seeing one. Looks like the trees roll on and on forever in any direction that I look in."

"I don't see no end of the trees." Lillymon said at the speakers.

"Not very encouraging." Lunamon sighed. "Can you two see anything else besides the trees?"

"Uh... hold on." Monitamon G1 continued to look around but Lillymon saw something ahead of them.

"What's that over there?" Lillymon pointed at the direction she saw.

Monitamon G1 look at what Lillymon was pointing at. He focus at the view he was seeing at the distance. Lunamon was surprised when the image on Monitamon G2's face zoomed in, she had not been aware that the Monitamons possessed that ability.

Still, Monitamon G1, Lillymon and therefore those down below could see something quite clearly in the distance, some huge rises of rock and stone that stretched out about the tree level in great, tall spires.

"Mountains?" Monitamon G3 mumbled. "Are those mountains over there?"

"Looks that way." Monitamon G1 confirmed. "Yep, I definitely think that those are mountains."

"By the direction the sun is going the mountains are west of us." Lillymon said.

"Mountains are a better place than anything that we've had so far." Lunamon let loose a slight breath of relief. "I vote that we head towards them. Anything's better than simple at staying around here, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Monitamon G3 agreed. "Good idea. Maybe some of the others are there too."

"Let's hope so." Lunamon said with a smile. "Monitamon, Lillymon, can you both come back down? We need to keep going."

"Coming." Monitamon G1 said.

"We will be down there in a moment." Lillymon said.

Monitamon G2 shut his screen off once again. Lunamon look back up into the trees and then, she saw Monitamon G1 and Lillymon both flown down to the ground through the branches. Once they landed to the ground Monitamon G1 let go of Lillymon as he stand on the ground.

"Were here." Lillymon said as they are ready to move out.

"Let's go." Lunamon nodded with slightly more enthusiasm than she actually felt. "Which way were those mountains?"

"This way." Monitamon G1 pointed, through with the complete lack of bearings that the forest brought with it, Lillymon also knows the direction too. Lunamon had no idea which direction of the compass Monitamon G1 was pointing towards. Still, she set off in the direction of his hand and the three Monitamons and Lillymon followed on, the Monitamons were leaping into the trees once again, they were filled with extra excitement at the prospect of an actual destination. Lillymon was walking right next to Lunamon.

But Lunamon paused and turned back again briefly, eyes narrowing as she stared into the shadows of the trees. That feeling of being watched had lessened slightly from the spike that had happened before but it was still there, at the back of her head. She shivered, both at the feeling and the mental image and turned to walk on, hurrying as best as she could in the thorny undergrowth to keep up with the Monitamons.

Lillymon was watching Lunamon that she sees that she was worried about something and she can tell that they are being watched as they move on.

And, after a few seconds of silence, something in the shadows behind them shifted, sneaking behind the trunk of a nearby tree with a very faint hissing noise.

XXX

And so they carried on yet again through the foreboding trees, in much the same fashion as before, but this time knowing what lay ahead of them, a bit of a good distance away. The mountains were a solid to begin a proper search, Lunamon was constantly telling herself. It was their best option. Their only real option at the moment.

She had realized a while ago with a sense of uncomfortably that she had somehow become something like a leader in this little group. And she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. The Monitamons and Lillymon were all looking up to her, seeming to expect her to look after them, though Lunamon had no idea why. The Monitamons might be small but they are more field experience than she is. And Lillymon is taller than them and the only one that is capable of handling herself.

She put it down to fear. They were scared and afraid and wanted somebody to look up at and at the moment Lunamon seemed to be the only person to fill that ache. But she had no experience at making decisions like this and certainly no experience at leadership. Shoutmon and Sorcermon have always been the leaders of the army they were leading. Not her. She just cheered everyone up.

But she knew she had to try. If the Monitamons were hoping for her to get them out of trouble then she would have to do her best but... She didn't think she was up to the task. Lillymon was the only one that is calm... but she was a little scared than they are. Lunamon was just scared as they were, perhaps even more so. And not least because that feeling of being watched was, ever so slowly, getting stronger.

The moon crest white rabbit paused every so often to peer around at the shadows and listen, but she never saw anything but the noises the Monitamons made as they moved along, so she step forward, satisfied but still thoroughly creeped out. Perhaps this was just the forest having an effect on her but she couldn't know that for sure. Lillymon was staying very close to Lunamon.

Lunamon would like some answers about this forest.

Pity that there seemed to be none.

XXX

Onward they went, ducking under branches and weaving around trunks, but once again they didn't seem to be making much headway. The mountains were probably further away than they had looked, but they had no way of telling how much further.

Lunamon wished that someone else were here with them besides Lillymon. Someone like Mervamon, who feared nothing, or Knightmon, who would use his own body as a shield if necessary, or Dorulumon, who's is nonchalant attitude practically peeled him off him and reassured everyone else by him being in the vicinity. And Sorcermon who is second in command and Shoutmon's adviser who could lead them and protect everyone. But nobody was there. Nobody came. It was just them.

And therefore, Lunamon practically jumped out of her skin when one of the Monitamons suddenly let out a strangled but surprisingly high-pitched yelp. She and Lillymon had been seeing a neanearby shadow that they could have sworn had moved at the time, but when the Monitamon screamed their heads snapped around so quickly. They both hurried forward, leaping over an old log in a wall and scrambling through a thorny bush that did its very best to slow their progress before they found what was going on and both of them gasped.

The Monitamon, they could not tell which one, was suspended off the ground and hanging from one of the tree trunks by what appeared to be some sort of... well, they didn't know what it was. some fine white substance like the world's messiest net or sheet that appeared to have coated itself to the Monitamon's body and was also attached to the tree, causing the Monitamon to dangle upside down, kicking and struggling as he tried to free himself.

The other two Monitamons stared in horror at what was going on before one of them had the sense to cry, **"FIRE SHOT!" **and shoot a stream of tiny flaming balls from the middle of its screen. They hit the substance at the place where it was attached to the tree and burned through it, releasing a horrible odor into the air. The trapped Monitamon screamed as he plummeted downward.

Lunamon quickly turned to Lillymon and said. "Lillymon save him!"

Lillymon quickly took flight forward and stop to a halt just in time to grab Monitamon and catch him in her arms and safely fly down to the ground.

"Thanks Lillymon." He said revealing him to be Monitamon G3.

"Your welcome." Lillymon said to him as Lunamon walk up to check on them.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I don't think I was paying attention to where I was landing." He replied a bit sheepishly. "I was just bounding along and suddenly I landed in a patch of this stuff and it stuck to me."

"It stuck to... ugh, hey!" Lillymon suddenly cried in alarm as she tried to pull the Monitamon away and found that stuff was now sticking to her green arm gloves and hands as well. Instinctively she jerked it away, accidently as she brushed the stuff away, peeling it off her sleeves only for it to envelop her hands and stick to them too. She waved her hands through the air in disgust in her attempt to dislodge it, but when that didn't work she quickly rubbed her hands against the trunk of the nearest tree.

This seemed to work better and the white stuff stripped away, sticking to the tree and pulling itself from Lillymon's hands in a series of threads before Lillymon was free of the stuff. But poor Monitamon G3 was still coated in it and writhing on the floor as he attempted to shrug it off without it sticking his limbs together. Lillymon quickly bent down and began to help, peeling sticky chunks of it away and scraping it off against the tree and trying to contain her disgust at the way it felt against her hands.

The other two Monitamons had come down to watch with unease as Lillymon finally finished unraveling their brother from the stuff. "Phew." Monitamon G3 said. "I'm glad that's off. That had me worried there."

"Yeah, but... what is it?" Monitamon G1 asked.

Lillymon was about to scrape the last of it off, but before she do so she stopped and examined it, lifting it up to where she could see it better and picking at it with her fingers of her other hand. It pulled itself away from her hand as it were determined to stick there for as long as it could. It came loosen in threads that were, considering their strength, incredibly fine indeed.

Lunamon watched too as she frowned. Where had she seen something like this before?

Lillymon scraped it off against the tree and said. "I don't know what it is. But I think..." She stopped and Lunamon did too. They both felt a intense feeling of being watched had suddenly magnified. Their backs straightened as they both look around, searching the shadows once again for signs of anything else.

And this time, Lunamon was the first to see something and Lillymon later see something too. Something that was not an illusion or a trick of darkness. They definitely saw some of the shadows moving backwards slightly, pressing themselves deeper into the darkness. Both Lunamon and Lillymon had little time to look at them before they were gone but what they could see seemed to be rather... spindly. Something long and thin, like an appendage, but quickly gone before they had the time for a proper look.

But around each one they could see tiny little glints of lights, like small beady eyes staring at them from the darkness before they shifted around out from behind the trees. And as Lunamon and Lillymon both looked around, they could see several of them. Not just one or two, but possibly around ten, and all at different levels. Some of them were on the ground. A couple seemed to be coming from the branches higher above. Some of them seemed to be on the trunks themselves before they scurried around the other side, too quick for them to make out their form.

And then it hit Lunamon. In her head. There had been one time, after the defeat of Bagramon, where she had joined one of Shoutmon's Fusion Fighters patrols through a different forest in the Digital World, where they had run across something similar... no, the same... as the sticky stuff the Monitamon had fallen into, when they had encountered a large Dokugumon nest filled with...webs.

It was webs.

The Dokugumons had been relatively friendly, as were most Digimon at the time after the Bagra Army was destroyed, but something gave Lunamon and Lillymon both the impression that whatever these creatures were, as they were not Dokugumons, they were not friendly at all.

And that was when the sound began. A fainting clicking noise seemed to be coming from the shadows now, and then it got louder, and began to move again, but this time heading towards the group slowly but surely, seeing to check them out. It was still so frustratingly dark that Lunamon and Lillymon still couldn't make them out clearly, but now they did not really want to find out what they were.

The three Monitamons had noticed them by this point as well and they were currently stuffed up and shaking with fear, as if paralyzed while they stared in horror at the on coming shadows. Lunamon turned around and hissed. "Come on, we have to go!"

"What are they?" Monitamon G2 gasped.

"I don't know, but come on!" Lunamon cried.

"Come on! Now!" Lillymon gave the Monitamon G3 a light kick in the backside towards one of the few spots around them that were devoid of shifting shadows. The Monitamons got the message and yelped before hurrying off in the direction at high speed, followed by Lunamon and Lillymon. They were ducking and weaving through the ragged shrubbery forest as quickly as the shadows closed in around them.

The moment they began running, the clicking sound built up even more. Clearly, whatever they are, they were getting excited at the prospect of a hunt and they began to move faster. Lunamon turn a glance over her shoulder to see the shadows coming behind her, and something jump from one of the trees to the ground with many long legs to give pursuit.

And then she heard a voice. A hissing voice among all the clicking which froze her blood.

"Run, run, little flies. There's no way for you to escape our net."

Lunamon forced down a yell and increased her speed, leaping over logs and rocks around her as she catch up with Lillymon as fast as her legs could take her, but the shadows picked up their pace as well and kept level with them, almost as if they were toying with them. Ever so slowly, they grew closer to them and no matter how much faster Lunamon and Lillymon strained to go they kept coming and coming.

Lunamon could not recall a time where she had attempted things such as she was doing now, but she was surprising herself at the moment. She jump over a large log and fell into a skidding crouch to pass right underneath another log that had been up in its fall, Lillymon was doing well to stay next to Lunamon as they dodged around a bush and slipped through a tight squeeze between two trees that had grown very close together. In doing so, Lunamon accidentally knocked over a giant fungus of some description and almost without thinking, she grab it by the stalk and spun around to throw it at the oncoming whatever they were.

The shadows skittered back from the fungus with high-pitched hisses that sounded like squeals, but the moment it landed, they passed over it and kept on coming.

Lunamon gritted her teeth and kept running next to Lillymon. But to her horror, they lost sight of the Monitamons by this point, perhaps in their fear they had forgotten that Lunamon and Lillymon couldn't go as fast as them on foot. But then, eventually, Lunamon and Lillymon both stumbled upon a scene which brought them to a halt with wide, horrified eyes.

The light was little better than it had ever been, but they could clearly make out a large net of what were definitely webs now. They seemed to hang from just about every tree, and spread out across gaps in the forest. They wrapped around the trunks like cloaks and spread right down the ground to cover parts of the floor in a layer of the stuff. They could see the amount of webbing getting denser the further into the trees their eyes looked and they knew right then, that they had stumbled right into some kind of nest.

Which was exactly what the shadows had been aiming for, Lunamon guessed. They had been herding her and Lillymon into a trap, and they had walk right into it.

And they could see other shadows sitting among the webs, more easily discernible than the shadows behind them, but definitely the same kind of shape. Fat, bulbous bodies with large heads could be seen among the webs, and each one had many, many long legs and it took Lunamon and Lillymon a second to count that each of them had exactly eight of them.

The clicking noise grew more insistent behind them and Lunamon and Lillymon both turn back. Their hearts tried to jump up their throats when they saw the shadowy mass had gotten closer to them now, close enough for them to make out the horrible pincer-like mouthparts of the creatures around, which was snapping together eagerly and making the clicking noise.

Lunamon and Lillymon both swallowed as they stand their ground. The two of them brought their hands together. Lunamon was shaking like a leaf but she still didn't want to become a meal so she put her hands forward. She summons a purple ball like shadow in her hands. Lillymon clasped her hands together. The yellow petal-like extensions on the ends of her gloves grew and extended outwards until they enveloped her hands and then peeled back like an opening flower to reveal the barrel of a cannon within. They both held them up and pointed their attacks at the oncoming creatures.

"S-s-stop right there." Lunamon trembled, trying to keep her hands level at them. "Don't come a step closer or we'll s-s-shoot you."

"You better stay back." Lillymon said putting her arms level at them too. "We'll blast you to bits."

The shadows hesitated, but only for a second, before a hissing laugh came from one of them. "You think you two can fool us with a little trickery?" It asked. "You two have neither bows or arrows. You cannot shoot us. You are defenseless. "

"A Digimon is... never defenseless." Lunamon said with more bravery than she felt. "Y-y-y-you would do well to listen to us."

"Because we will not back down without a fight." Lillymon said with determination. "We are far from being helpless."

The shadows stepped forward and Lunamon yelped and let loose her blast of her Dark Burst attack and Lillymon also fired her Flower Cannon attack too. The two large green and purple energy blast from the hands and cannon, then exploded forwards into the midst of the shadows. They shrieked in surprise and in the second that the two energy blast were in existence they illuminated the entire scene and in that moment, Lunamon and Lillymon both wanted to be sick.

They had seen them clearly in that moment, with horrible hairy bodies and their eight long legs, fierce looking mandibles, abdomens that seemed to bob up and down slightly as they moved. And their eyes... their eyes were big. Much bigger than the glints had suggested they were. But they were black and round and though the two Digimon had not been able to pick out expression, they could definitely see the hunger in them.

Spiders. Giant Spiders. That was what they were. Not Dokugumons or Arukenimons or anything like that, but in their own way, many times worse than either of them.

The Spiders proved to be agile and quick of their eight legs, bounding backwards at the two blast of the attacks, but three of them were not quick enough and were hit head on. The two energy blast exploded and took them out instantly, vaporizing their bodies and cratering the ground in the two blast, leaving nothing but a couple of flying legs, one of which Lunamon had to duck under to avoid being hit in the face.

The Spiders screeched, surprised at what had just happened, before the same spider voice as before chuckled and said. "Ah. Perhaps we underestimated you two. I'm afraid you both just made a big mistake. Those blasts like that will have alerted our brothers and sisters for miles around. You two are right in the heart of our territory now. Can you fight us all off?"

"Of... of course." Lunamon growled, but without any real conviction or belief in her mind or voice.

"We can fight you all off." Lillymon boldly said as she was ready to fight them off along side with Lunamon.

The Spiders laughed again, and the clicking intensified once more. "It's quite clear that one of you is not experienced at this, females. Not experienced at all."

Lunamon swallowed, but she knew it was right. She has no combat experience and Lillymon is the only one who can fight and protect her. But a split second later there was a rustling in the branches above them and their heads snapped up, only to see a huge eight legged shape already falling towards them with mandibles outstretched.

Lunamon screamed as Lillymon grab her and both rolled out of the way and thanking that her wings were tucked against her back. But Lillymon wasn't quick enough to evade the spider completely and as it landed one of its legs snagged her dress and its mandibles closed around one of her boots.

Lunamon was out of Lillymon's arms and run up to the spider to free her friend. "Let her go **LUNA CLAW!" **Lunamon yelled as her claws turned purple as she slash at the spider's large eyes. The spider squealed in pain as it let go of Lillymon's leg.

"Are you okay?" Lunamon asked.

"I'm okay Lunamon." Lillymon was thankful as she turned to the spiders. "Be careful! More are coming!"

The spider Lunamon clawed at hissed in anger as it advanced towards them. And this time the others swarmed around it, closing in on them from different angles and more of them were beginning to descend downwards from the trees towards them, some on trunks, some by long threads of silk with their legs roping towards them.

Lunamon may not be a warrior and Lillymon is one, but Lunamon did have some experience with fighting, not much in comparison to the other members of the Fusion Fighters. And in their desperation and some of their instincts kicked in and they began to desperately fight back against the incoming horde as best as they can. Lillymon span around and kicked a spider that had gotten too close in the face, then jumped backwards as another tried to grab her in its mandibles, she flattened herself against the ground as a third lunged at her in a flying leap, narrowly passing over her and crashing into another group of spiders in a tangle of flailing legs.

Another spider was charging at Lunamon as her forehead began to glow blue. "Take this you ugly spiders! **TEAR SHOT!" **She shouted as her blue ball attack hit the spider and followed by two more were blasted as they died.

Lunamon and Lillymon were desperately doing their best to keep the spiders at bay. Lunamon was using her Luna Claws to slash at the spiders that she didn't know she is capable of and Lillymon kicked another spider in the side of the head to knock it aside, lashing out with another kick to another spider in the fangs. Another reared up and splayed its legs to try and bring down on Lunamon, but Lunamon spun around and thrust her hands to shoot out her Dark Burst to hit the base of the spider's exposed abdomen that sent it rolling backwards and rolling aside as another jumped right at her, snagging at her torso with its legs as it passed and spinning back around, trying to climb her and bite at her.

Lunamon yelped, seizing is waving palps and pushing them back frantically, struggling to keep the spider off of her as it tried to enfold its other legs around her. It was larger than her and was clearly stronger, but Lillymon saw Lunamon was in trouble and she pointed her Flower Cannon at the spider. "Don't worry Lunamon, I'll save you!" She said as she let a powerful beam that hit the spider that was on Lunamon is obliterated. Lunamon moved backwards next to Lillymon as the other spiders pressed in around them, both of them shoot off more blasts with both ball and cannon to vaporize several more. They wished they could let rip with a full power blast, but at such close range the explosion was just as likely to damage them as the spiders if they did that.

More of the spiders coming from above hesitated at the two Digimon unleashed their barrage, causing the other spiders to back away from around them, before they decided to try and throw them off and dropped their silken strings, falling down towards them en masses. Lunamon and Lillymon both spun upwards just in time to see them coming and let loose a couple of blasts upwards and blow several out of the air, but Lunamon was not quick enough to stop many others crashing down around her and slamming into her with their hairy bodies.

She screamed as the weight of another spider pushed her to the ground and the other spiders around her immediately seized their chance, surging forward like a black wave to try and grip at her Lillymon saw her friend is endanger and try to reach her, but some of the spiders are blocking her way as she yelled. "Lunamon! Get out of my way you eight legged freaks!" She tried as she might as more came to take their place as Lillymon punch, kick or blast them. Lunamon struggled valiantly, as she punched one spider in the eye and kicking another spider into the air with both of her feet, but she felt their mandibles wrapping around her limbs as they raised their fangs and, to her horror, what looked to be large strings on the ends of their rounded bodies.

"Get... Off... Me!" She screamed and with a wrench that took the spiders off guard she surged back to her feet, yanking her legs free and pulling her arms free too. She was a mess now, and everywhere she looked there were more spiders around her. Lillymon managed to reach her as she stand next to her. They are completely surrounded. Trapped. No way out.

"We have you both now." Hissed a voice as the spiders tensed to spring at them.

**"FIRE SHOT!" **Screamed a voice from above. There were flashes of red and Lillymon looked up to see a couple of spiders shrieking as they were hit with small pellets of flame and fell to the ground around them, flailing wildly and causing the other spiders to jump backward in alarm. In blurs of motion, the three Monitamons darted down from the trees until they stood in the ring around Lunamon and Lillymon.

"Monitamon!" Cried Lunamon. "You guys came back!"

"You guys finally arrived to help us." Lillymon smiled.

"We couldn't leave you guys." Monitamon G2 cried.

The spiders hissed, confused and agitated, not sure what to make of these new arrivals. Lunamon spotted this and tell the others as she shouted. "Quick, hit them now before they attack again!"

**"WATER DRAGON!"** Monitamon G1 cried as a stream of water burst from his screen and appeared to attempt to take the shape of a dragon, but not quite manage it, and crash over the nearest spiders. It did not hurt them but they were unused to being attacked in their manner and water certainly didn't agree with them so they hissed and scampered backward and away.

**"WIND WHEEL!" **Monitamon G2 yelled and blew a small spiral of compressed air at another group which took them off guard and managed to blow them over, while others behind them retreated.

**"LIGHTNING FLASH!" **Monitamon G3 shouted and produced a rod from nowhere which he thrust forward and several jolts of electricity lanced from the tip and zapped into more of the spiders, to a similar result.

Lunamon and Lillymon both looked up to see several more spiders still descending towards them from above so they cried out. **"FLOWER WREATH!" "DARK BURST!" **As they send their attacks at them. Lillymon lashed out a long rope of flowers that seized one spider around the neck section. It shrieked in alarm and Lillymon hauled it to one side like it was on a lasso and sent it crashing into several of its fellow arachnids. Lunamon kept launching more of her dark spheres at the spiders as they get blasted to bits.

Whatever the spiders had expected, it had not been this, and they began to back away slowly and warily, keeping their eyes on the attacking creatures. The Monitamons kept pushing them with small elemental attacks, but for all their efforts the ninjas were not very powerful. All out, attacking was not their strength at all, and the spiders seemed to be more startled than phased by what they were doing.

Lunamon and Lillymon were a different story though. Lillymon reformed her Flower Cannon and Lunamon summoned a Dark Burst ball as they leveled them at the thickest group of spiders. They shrieked, knowing what was coming, and immediately they shrank back even further, ducking behind the trees and out of sight. They retreated into the shadows still further and climbed up trees.

Lunamon felt her confidence grow slightly. These might be terrifying creatures but they didn't have the durability of an enemy Digimon. They couldn't take a hit from her Dark Burst and Lillymon's Flower Cannon. Maybe everything was going to be alright after...

The thought died in her mind as her head swung around. She had no idea how many spiders had been trying to attack her but in all reality there had not been that many. Perhaps fifteen to twenty including all the ones that were falling from the trees. But the spiders were not retreating, just hiding from Lunamon and Lillymon's attacks.

And now Lunamon knew why. There were waiting for backup.

And in approximately half a minute, they would have it.

Lunamon stared in disbelief at the area with all the webs were now obscured by hundreds of thousands of scuttling legs and swollen bodies. During the fighting she hadn't noticed it, but the spider from before had not been joking when it said that she and Lillymon had drawn attention themselves. The sounds of combat and the promise of prey were drawing in hundreds of the spiders. They were thundering across the ground towards the Digimon like a flash flood. They were scrambling through the trees and across their webs like a dark wave.

Lunamon's heart was in her throat and she knew there was no way that she and Lillymon could fight all of them off. As far as she was concerned it was a miracle she had survived so far. She would have already fallen if the Monitamons hadn't rushed back. But she could throw dozens of dark balls into that oncoming army and barely make a dent in its numbers, and then the rest of them would swarm over her, Lillymon and the Monitamons. They had their prey in their sights now, and they were more determined to get it then ever.

Scuttling noises caused her to swing around and she saw the webbed area was not the only place they were coming from. They were coming from every direction, each one eager for a piece of Digimon.

She was not the only one to notice. Lillymon can see them coming from all directions and the Monitamons had frozen up again, their heads the things they were moving as they stared wildly back and forth at the looming storm of hairy limbs. They had twenty seconds, before the spiders reached them.

Lunamon made her decision in that second. She was not Shoutmon, but she had to do her best to protect the Monitamons. They were better at stealth than her and Lillymon. They could slip away unnoticed. She would not have such an easy time of it, but she and Lillymon had to try.

"Go!" She shouted to the Monitamons. "Go! Get out of here now!"

"We'll hold them off as possible and we will follow you guys!" Lillymon said to them.

"But how can you follow us with no way out?" One of them asked as both Lunamon and Lillymon turned around. Lunamon grimaced and Lillymon unfolded her wings from her back once more.

"Never mind about us!" Lunamon yelled. "We will draw them off. You three run! Go and find the others! Escape!"

"Besides." Lillymon smiled. "We will escape by air with my wings."

"But...!" One of the Monitamons was about to argue.

"Don't argue, just go!" Lunamon waited no longer before she and Lillymon both charged into the spiders as they launched their attacks at the trees, they throw a quick glance behind them to see what happened to the Monitamons. There was no sign of them, so they could only hope that they had followed Lunamon's instructions but right now they need to focus on keeping the spiders occupied and try to escape themselves.

Lunamon was aware that she and Lillymon can't hold the spiders back, but they needed to clear a path to escape by air. The spiders were after her and Lillymon already, picking up speed as they hurtled towards them from all angles, hurrying to intercept them to cut them off and snare them in their trap.

Almost immediately, spiders began to leap from the trees close to the two Digimon to attempt to catch them as they shot past them. But Lunamon and Lillymon were both nimbler Digimon that they were. Lunamon jump over the screeching spider and spun herself and used Luna Claws to cut down another spider coming at her as she killed it. Lillymon used Fairy Vine from both of her wrists to stab two spiders in their eyes to kill them as her vines went back to her wrists.

It was then that Lunamon realized, to her horror, that the bushes would be to dense for her to run through there. There was no space for her to escape around the treeline. If she wanted to get away, she was going to have to find a hole in the line large enough for her body to squeeze through. Lillymon was also trying to find away to escape by air in order for her and Lunamon to get out of the spider's nesting grounds.

And the spiders continued jumping. One jumped up at Lunamon from the lower branch with fangs bared and she almost didn't spotted it in time, but when she did she twisted on the spot until she used Luna Claws caught it in the underside and killed it as it tumbled away. Two more spiders scuttled up a branch close to Lillymon and jump at her within a second of each other, but Lillymon threw herself into the air and landed on the second spider's back, running up its body and jumping off its rear end, wings snapping out to catch her once again as she fly down towards the ground.

Several spiders above her made the mistake of trying to jump at her at the same time as she leveled close to the ground, but Lillymon zoomed ahead too quickly for them and inches from the undergrowth layer, causing them to crash into one another and land in sprawling heaps, impeding of the others that were still running after Lunamon and Lillymon on the ground.

Lunamon allowed herself, just for one second to smirk, but her quick eyes picked out the shapes of many more spiders surging towards them from dead ahead at various levels of trees. Her face hardened as she and Lillymon swung towards them, before altering their trajectory on the path and turned to the left instead. The spiders were surprised, attempted to race after them, but the two Digimon span around again, by planting their feets on the trunk of a tree and springing away from it, shooting through the gap in the spiders before they could figure out what just happened.

Lunamon and Lillymon both rounded a tree to try and throw them off the scent, and they almost collide with another spider that was hanging from its rear end with legs splayed. Lunamon shrieked and backed up immediately, but the spider latched onto her with its legs and attempted to reel her in. Lillymon rush on and used Flower Cutter as she jump in the air with a kick that sent a blade like beam that cut the spider in half as it died freeing Lunamon.

The two Digimon turn back and saw the spiders are still coming as Lillymon sent more barrage of Flower Cannon to blow them to bits. Lunamon was covering Lillymon with her Luna Claws to cut down spiders that got to close. When one of them did she knock over its legs and send it crashing into the other spiders.

But unfortunately, as one of them was flipped onto its back, Lunamon felt a sharp stab of pain on her left arm. She gritted her teeth and used the momentum of jump back next to Lillymon, Lillymon turn and see if Lunamon was alright. "Lunamon are you okay?" Lillymon asked.

Lunamon looked down on her left arm she could see that there was a small wound on her arm. The spider's stinger must have nicked her there when it flipped over. She grimaced. "I'm all right, its just a scratch." Lunamon said as the wound was not serious, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. Looking around her, the spiders were still coming in hundreds.

Lunamon and Lillymon both run on, attempting to pull out every trick in the book to keep away from the hungry spiders. They weren't sure whether to stick to the trees or try the more open spaces, so they try both, launching themselves through the branches as they ran pass a spider that had jumped at them before it squeal as the branch slammed into it.

Lillymon and Lunamon both quickly pass into a set of trees, trunks as the spiders scrambled down each one towards them. But then Lillymon spotted several more spiders dead ahead, preparing an ambush and threw out another Flower Wreath, grabbing Lunamon and using it to whip herself back around the trunk as she had pass away in a completely different direction. Lillymon put Lunamon down as they continued to run as the forest was beginning to get denser, and no matter how fast they went it seemed that the main force of the spiders swarm was always behind them.

They squeeze through a gap in a pair of trees by slipping past the treeline narrowly missed scraping the bark and Lunamon saw a spider leap at her face, its huge hungry eyes staring right into hers. Instinct seemed to set in and Lunamon stopped by dropping to the ground as the spiders sailed overhead and crashed into the trees while Lunamon got back up as she continued running next to Lillymon. She saw about a dozen of spiders were behind them, palps and front legs reaching out to try and grab them by their feet, The two Digimon grimaced as they put on all their speed that they could muster, aiming themselves straight at the trunk of another tree.

At the last second they jump straight upward so close to the trunk that Lillymon grab Lunamon again to hold on. Several of the spiders crashed into the trunk with sickening crunches, but several of them climbed over the bodies of their comrades and up the trunk after them ad if nothing had happened. But then, another spider flung itself downwards at them from above, like a hairy legged shadow seeking to totally entrap them.

"Not today!" Lillymon hissed and flipped herself over and backward. The two spiders crashed into each other and the one which had jumped carried the others towards the ground in a squealing, messy heap.

Lillymon took a moment to catch herself and put Lunamon down on the ground, a spider tried a different technique. As Lunamon and Lillymon turned themselves around to keep moving, it leapt back off a nearby branch with a line of webbing still attached to it, and swung down and under from it, much like Lillymon had done with the Flower Wreath earlier. Lunamon almost run straight into its path as it spread its legs to envelop her.

She gasped and jump up, forcing herself up and over, the big ears on her head just shooting between its two outstretched front legs and narrowly miss its groping mandibles with the stamen that poked out the top. Lunamon couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as she pulled out of that one just in time. Lillymon fly over the spider with her wings as she stayed in the air.

But Lunamon ran straight into the silken thread that the spider was swinging from and yelled as it glued itself to her foot. She was jerked backward as the silk was pulled free from the tree and she suddenly had the added weight of a giant spider dragging her straight down towards the ground. The Digimon gasped as she was yanked downward at the additional weight and redoubled herself, desperately trying to escape.

The spider did not weigh as much as she had expected but it was still heavy and continued to pull her downward. It crashed into the ground, but then it managed to latch onto the trunk of the tree and hold itself fast, jerking Lunamon to stop. She struggled valiantly, but the line was stuck fast and the spider turned its large eyes towards her, filled with malice and excitement at the prospect of claiming its prey. Then it reached up with several legs and literally began to reel the webbing in, with Lunamon attached to the other end.

Lunamon kicked and thrashed but it had no effect, and the line was too far down for her to reach without bending over, which would cause her to fall straight down. A couple of other spiders scurried down towards her and Lunamon twisted aside to avoid another that tried to claim her first by jumping from above. And the other spiders are closing the gap that she and Lillymon had both made with their stunt before. They'd all be on her in seconds.

When Lillymon saw this she brought her hands together and form the Flower Cannon again, let loose a blast that disintegrated the spider and most of the line attached to Lunamon's foot. She fly over Lunamon and said with concern. "Are you alright Lunamon?"

The snap of the thread came off from the effect of not being pulled down any more took Lunamon completely off guard and was back up from the ground. "I'm alright Lillymon." She said as she gasping for breath and clutched at her stomach. She winced as it pained at her and she looked quickly over her one shoulder and saw the spider horde was gathering around her and Lillymon. One spider landed on the branches right next to Lunamon and jumped for her. Lunamon quickly got up and ran just in time, with Lillymon close to her just away from the grasping legs above and below on either side and pressing closer and closer in all sides.

Now they were able to keep pace with Lunamon but not Lillymon, because Lunamon realized with a sickening feeling that she was slowing down. Not only was her injured arm, and Lunamon was sure she was only making her injury worse, but now she was beginning to feel slightly dizzy. Everything blurred a little bit and the cut on her arm was really beginning to sting.

It was only a small cut, but the spider must still had been able to inject some sort of paralytic venom or other substance into her through it. Not enough to stop her or knock her out but enough to slow her down.

Lillymon turn and see Lunamon was slowing down as she tried to turn back, but the spiders are blocking all over the trees to prevent her to help Lunamon. "Lunamon!" Lillymon yelled her name.

Lunamon turn to Lillymon. "You need to go on without me!" She yelled back. ,"Go and find the Monitamons and I'll try to escape the spiders!"

Lillymon nodded to understand and took off in the air and said. "We will not abandon you Lunamon! I promise!" After that she was gone leaving Lunamon all alone.

Lunamon turned to the spiders as she kept running through the trees to escape them. Yet she can't seemed to lose them as they are still on to her. She turn and brought her hands forward and fire her Dark Burst to blast the spiders they are chasing her. She quickly turned to a sharp corner to make a gap in the spider's line.

Only to find more spiders in front of her. There were more spiders. No matter where she turned, there were spiders waiting. But she could not stop now. Not even for a second or one of them would grab her. She kept running as several spiders crashed down on the branches to reach her.

She grimaced. Running wasn't going to do the job anymore. She needed to both run and fight at the same time. So she tried a tactic she never attempted before, and brought her hands as they glow purple, waiting for the spiders to make their move.

One jumped at her from above, but she spun around and knocked it aside with a slash of one of her claws, and she twisted around again to lash out behind her with the other claw to catch another squarely in the face between the eyes. She twisted again and slash out both of her claws at the same time to impale the two spiders from behind their backs, she twirled around like a ballerina, her white dress with pink ribbons with a moon pendant as she spun around like a twister as she cut down several spiders the way that they had come.

She run on, attempting to twirl her claws around her as she did so, and she was pleasantly surprised by how well she was doing with them. She spread her arms out as she turned to charge, gaining another idea about what to do with them. She managed to gain speed on the spiders and slashed with her claws. She cut her way through a path, but more spiders are descending from above the trees.

As the spiders descend they did scurrying down from the trunks of the trees towards her like the swarm they were. Every single trees within fifty yards was a writhing mass of spiders that were climbing down and over the trunks and over another in a mass of movement. Lunamon could see them more clearly now, closer to the ground they were and she definitely did not like what she saw. Every single set of eight eyes was aimed directly at her, and the mandibles clicked louder as they got closer, thinking that she is to be cornered.

But the first one came within a few feet of her, Lunamon quickly jump over the spiders and jump on a branch as she is on top of the trees as she jump on branch to branch to give the spiders the slip were they can't keep up to her.

Lunamon couldn't help but laughed in exhilaration, despite her relative dizziness and the pain in her arm. The spiders fell behind rapidly as she continued to jump on the branches of the trees and jumping aside to avoid one tree which was blocking her path.

Lunamon finally decided to add the final touch and spun around she was standing on the branch, brought her hands together to send her Dark Burst attack once more. And she was firing blindly at where she knew the spiders to be, but since there were so many of them. In rapid succession, she seed eight shots before she twisted around once mord and jump down from the tree and kept running. She didn't wait to see if they are aftering her, but she heard the explosions behind her and the sound of splintering spiders.

As she kept running as she did so and listening for the sounds of spiders behind her. She could still hear the scurrying and the clicking but they had fallen dome way back. Quite some way back actually. She had done it. She had gained a great lead on them with her tricks. They were still chasing her and she was still far slower than she would normally be but she was no longer to forced to dodge any of them as they came charging at her.

Perhaps things were really going to be alright after all.

Now she needed to focus on escaping from the forest completely. She needed to find a gap in the trees that was large enough for her body to run through, but there hadn't been a good many of those around since they had even started the walk through the forest. But she needed to find one before the spiders, with their seemingly limitless energy, caught up to her, which might be sooner than she would have liked due to the venom dulling her senses.

She searched wildly as she run on, the sound of the pursuing spiders growing slightly louder in her ears as they motored after her. She had to give them credit, they were certainly persistent. But come on, she didn't have time for that. Look for the light. It was still daytime so if she could find the light she would find a hole. And if she find a hole she could escape.

And then what? Had Lillymon and the Monitamons managed to get away at all? She hoped so, and she decided to head for the mountains as soon as she found a spot in the open and recover her arm. Hopefully she'd meet them there. If not... well hopefully she'd meet them there.

Just then a spell of dizziness from the venom inside her caused her to fall and stumble on the ground, she was slowing down as she slumped over and almost tumbled a couple of times, pausing briefly and leaning against a tree and shaking her head before she threw herself onwards, knowing the spiders would have gained some ground. But things were more blurry than they had been before, more distorted and fuzzy. Thankfully the effect was not getting any worse do the venom was not enough to paralyzed her completely but she needed to get out of here quickly as possible.

Only did the thought occur to her and she almost smacked herself in the head for not thinking of it sooner. She didn't need to find a hole in the forest, she needed to create another one herself with a couple of blasts from her dark balls.

Yes, that would be destroying nature but right now Lunamon needed to survive. Ugh, she really wasn't a leader material if she had let something so completely obvious slip her notice. It was the simplest idea in the world!

She quickly glanced over her shoulder. The spiders were gaining again, the shadows writhing and thrashing with the movements of their bodies, and Lunamon as pretty sure there were more of them than ever now.

She turned back. She screamed.

She desperately tried to back away but it was too late. She had only looked over her shoulder for a second, but in her dazed state she had not seen what was right in front of her before she turned her head and when she turned back she was too close to do anything. A few seconds after the scream left her mouth she hurtled straight into the enormous web that was stretched between the trees before her.

Instantly she was coated in the sticky stuff, her body pulling many of the threads loose from the tree that they were attached to and causing them to snap back and lash around her like great ropes. One arm was immediately immobile and pinned against her side, her face, ear and torso smeared with the webbing. She screamed as her back is stuck on the web as she struggled to move her body.

She gasped, her heart stopping for almost five seconds before trying to escape from her body it was pounding so hard. She was caught. She was trapped.

With one arm pinned to her side and the other caught in the web she couldn't bring together to send Dark Burst. Both of her legs had been snared and pulled together, covered in the sticky stuff. And she now had a clear view of the spider horde rushing towards her, triumphant clicks and screeches coming from every one of them.

Lunamon thrashed and strained and bucked, unable to move any of her limbs, but the more she pulled and writhed around in the sticky netting the more it seemed to cover her up and envelop her. But she couldn't stop. She just couldn't, not yet. She kicked and writhed harder than she'd ever had to before and eventually, she succeeded in snapping off more of the strings from the trees above and, eventually, tumbling to the ground in a heap.

But she was still totally ensnared in the web around her. None of her legs and arm are moving anymore, stuck fast amongst the goop. She desperately threw out an arm and strained to pull it free, to seize a rock or a stick, anything that she could use to defend herself.

But it was too late.

A spider fell on her, It's hair covered limbs encasing her almost as much as the webbing which was plastered to her body. Lunamon screamed and tried to kick, but her legs were stuck fast to the ground. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw the spider's gnashing mouthparts inches from her face. And then there were others, all around her, closing in around her pulling in as best they could, and Lunamon was totally and utterly helpless against them as they latched onto every single part of her body with their hook-like feet. There was so much clicking that she thought she might go deaf and she knew the chase was over. They had her.

But now they were not interested in biting her. Lunamon was surprise when they began to manipulate her body with their feet. Working together, they pulled her two big ears down, press her legs together and fold her arms behind her back. And then they began to roll her over in the dirt, one of the largest spiders standing over her and helping to roll her while it extruded more sticky webbing from its rear end.

Lunamon squealed. They were binding her, wrapping her up even further in the webbing they naturally produced and plastering her with it. More spiders joined in about half a minute, Lunamon was almost completely encased in the webs from her neck to bear toes. Her legs were pinned together by the silken threads along their entire length, they even successfully bound her toes together with it somehow. Her arms were folded behind her pressing them against her back and making her unable to do anything, each wrists and clenched fists individually wrapped and pinned to the opposite elbow. Even her two big ears.

The spiders were clever. They had worked out that Lunamon's Dark Burst only work if she could place her hands together and they weren't prepared to take that risk. And by encasing her fists she couldn't summon her Luna Claws either to cut free either.

With a sense of utter despair, Lunamon realized that she was completely and utterly helpless in the grasp of all these predatory invertebrates. She was entirely cocooned in the web, like a mummy right from her feet to her neck, leaving only her head and her two small ears left. Lunamon wanted to cry, wanted to scream. So she did. She had failed and now there was nothing that she could do. Nothing at all.

The big spider that had done most of the wrapping stood over her, legs splayed on either side of her as she lay in the dirt on her back. It lowered its head down right into her face, its gnashing mandibles a hairs breadth from her eyes, its expressionless face staring impassively into her own.

"Let go of me!" Lunamon cried through her tears in one last spark of defiance. "Let go go now!"

The spider, in reply, stepped further over until its rear end was over her Lunamon's face. Lunamon froze, wondering if it was going to sting her, but it merely squirted more webbing at her. Lunamon's mouth was suddenly covered with the stuff and she retched, violently forcing down the urge to hurl as more webbing wrapped over her lower face, sticking there forcing the webbing already stuffed in her mouth remain there. The spider used its back legs to wrap it further around the back of her head, completely silencing her in a thick gag of silk and leaving only her eyes and big ears exposed to the air.

"Let you go?" The spider clicked in an amused voice. "Oh no, my dear. That would never do. However, you're the most interesting thing we've ever snared before, I've never seen anything like you before, and never seen anything do what you did today. In fact, this occasion might be special enough for you to gain an audience with the Queen herself.

There was a crescendo of clicking all around her and all Lunamon could do was make a pathetically muffled, "Mmmppphhh!" noise through the silken warping over her mouth as she tried, and failed, to scream in despair.

XXX

**As Lunamon was captured by the Spiders of Mirkwood, what happened to the others that split up.**

**The next chapter is with Sorcermon, Greymon, Deputymon and Beastmon are lost in the place called Ithilien.**

**Next time Chapter 14 The Pampered Princess.**


	14. Ch 14 The Pampered Princess

**The Digimon King and The King of Gondor**

**Chapter 14 The Pampered Princess**

**This is the part where Sorcermon and his group are lost in a place called Ithilien. But they were being watch.**

**XXX**

Time were many things that Sorcermon and Greymon both prided on. Greymon's strength, both in terms of physical muscle and in terms of power, was the main one. Several of the other things he was proud of were his calm attitude and level head, his ability to adapt quickly to certain situations and certainly the friends that he had made during his time as a warrior of team Blue Flare. But Sorcermon's strength, is with both intelligence and leadership. He was the King's adviser and 2nd in command to look out for the others.

Greymon still remembered the time where he and Christopher had met for the first time. It had been a fairly different circumstance from meeting of Mikey and Shoutmon. For one thing, Christopher had already been in the Digital World, having been brought there by Bagramon himself to act as a General for the Bagra Army. Christopher had been wondering lost in the Mesozoic Zone, known for its wide variety of Dinosaur and similarly related Digimon.

The general attitude of the creatures of the Mesozoic Zone was that the strongest were the ones that survived. That was the law of the jungle, so they had never seen any reason why it should be different. This had been part of the reason why they had been part of the reason why they had been caught flat-footed when the Bagra Army had invaded. Each of the groups of Digimon had always let solitary existences, never relying on any but their own kind, and Greymon had been considered one of the strongest of that Zone. Few of the other Digimon would have dared to bother him on his worst day.

But the Bagra Army had been different. They had worked together, albeit with some antagonism on occasion, and had stormed across the Zone in an attempt to find its Code Crown, slaying anything that stood in their path.

Greymon had encountered them and taken several of them out, but had been slightly injured in the process. Not much, but enough to give him a slight limp. And that had been when he met Christopher.

The blond-haired kid had been under attack himself at the time. The Gaossmons who later become part of the Blue Flare Army had mistaken him as a enemy and were surrounding him on all sides, trying to get at him. It wouldn't have been much of a contest under most circumstances, the sheer number of Gaossmons would have overwhelmed Christopher instantly if they had really gone for it.

But the Gaossmons had been intrigued by Christopher and slightly wary, unsure of what he was supposed to be. Not to mention Christopher had gotten hold of a bunch and was swinging it like a mace, keeping the Gaossmons at bay.

There had been no fear in Christopher's eyes. Only anger. And perhaps it had been that lack of fear which had drawn Greymon to Christopher when he had spotted what was going on. Even when confronted with the massive dinosaur, Christopher had been with very little to fear, yelling at Greymon that he was strong and he would not back down from a bunch of overgrown lizards.

Greymon had been further intrigued, and any thought of taking this human for a meal was banished from his mind. The desire in both of them to become stronger quickly become apparent as they conversed, and before long Greymon decided that he actually liked this little guy, which had been a bizarre concept in itself at the time, he'd never really liked anybody before that. He'd never needed to.

Then there had been explosions which had distracted both of their attentions. Greymon had snarled, remembering the presence of the Bagra Army and had stomped off, limping a little, to find out what was going on, Christopher following on behind him. And that had also been the first time that Greymon had met MailBirdramon, for it was he that the Bagra Army were attacking. He had made his home atop a large plateau which was being bombarded by Pteramons while a phalanx of Tankmons were firing up at him with their cannons. Greymon had seen MailBirdramon before, but had never talked to him. But right now that had not mattered. These creatures were interlopers in their Zone, and Greymon had joined the battle himself.

Neither he nor MailBirdramon had coordinated their attack with one another. They had just unleashed everything they had at the enemy, working separately and getting results, but certainly not watching one another's backs. Their attacks had been purely selfish, and they were both paying attention at the large number of creatures that they were decimating in the process.

Then Christopher had taken charge. Pn seeing how powerful both Greymon and MailBirdramon were, and desiring to become stronger himself, he had remembered what the voice that had given him his Fusion Loader had told him about the Digifuse. And in his first moment as a General, the process had begun, and suddenly Greymon and MailBirdramon found their bodies being merged with another to form the incredibly powerful MetalGreymon.

Working together had been a brand new concept for both of them. It had never even occurred to them to watch one another's backs. But as they shared their mind and body in their new combined form, they suddenly felt the strength of the other flowing through them and they realized, for the first time, the value of a team mate.

MetalGreymon, with his classic Giga Destroyer, had decimated the Bagra Army that day, traveling with Christopher to take out the leader, an Allomon which had obtained the Code Crown. Naturally they took it back from him and, after a visit from the mysterious Nene, they too had learned the purpose of the Code Crowns and, after little thought, Christopher had decided on his quest to find them all.

And Greymon and MailBirdramon, both feeling a certain kinship with Christopher and now with each other, had already agreed to go with him, as had the Gaossmons, who had watched the whole thing. That had been how team Blue Flare had formed, and they had set about tearing their own way through the Digital World until their eventual goal and mindsets had been altered by Mikey and Shoutmon of the Fusion Fighters.

They had recruited other members of their army along the way. Deckerdramon had, of course, come from the Forest Zone. Cyberdramon had been a renegade from the Dragon Zone who had refused to bow to the Bagra Army even though they had already taken his Zone. And the two Bombmons had been residents of the Factory Zone they had been sabotaging various parts of the factory and seriously annoying the Bagra Army members who ran the place.

But through all that, Greymon had only ever really worked with people of similar mind to himself. People who were straightforward and sensible, who spoke little and focused solely on the battle in hand. And then, when teaming up with the Fusion Fighters, while their views on certain issues had been different, they too had been relatively easy to stay alongside. They were not demanding, they were not annoying. They were fighters, warriors and all. At least the ones that usually stayed out of the Fusion Loaders.

Beastmon, the cat Princess, had not been one of those Digimon. She had spent the majority of her time in the Fusion Loader. Greymon had encountered her the first time in the Lake Zone where she lived, as had Christopher and MailBirdramon. Even then they had all found her bizarre, frustrating and a little unnerving. None of them had experience at dealing with people like this, Beastmon had fawned over Christopher, spent most of her time falling asleep when they were trying to talk to her and generally being unhelpful and just plain strange.

That had been a circumstance that they could not just blast their way through, and they hadn't the foggiest idea how to cope with it. In the end, they hadn't. Mikey had. And they moved on.

After that, Greymon had nothing to do with Beastmon. He hadn't even known she had joined the Fusion Fighters until she appeared in the Sword Zone with the rest of Mikey's team to help free Shoutmon X5B from one of Tactimon's attacks. And the only other times Greymon had seen her being used after that was to Digifuse with Ballistamon to either free several of them, including Greymon himself, from Olegmon's mind control chant, and also in the final battle against the Bagra Army since Shoutmon had been dead at that point.

Even during the seven years after that, Greymon had never really associated with the red-headed cat Princess. He'd had a few conversations with her when she'd been awake and he'd been in some of his more talkative moods, and of course he had been generally friendly, but for the most part they had little to do with one another.

As for Sorcermon, he was a White Wizard Digimon who traveled in the Digital World to learn its history alongside with his brother Wizardmon and his friend Gatomon. The three of them are from a small village in the Sand Zone.

When they heard the Bagra Army attack the other Zones, they were willing to protect their home from their invasion. Then they heard that Bagramon has been defeated, they traveled all the way to see Shoutmon. On the road they were ambushed by some remnants of the Bagra Army attack them on the path in Lake Zone. They tried to fight them off, until Shoutmon and the rest of the Fusion Fighters came to help them.

After they defeated the Bagra Army, Shoutmon asked them what are they doing here. Sorcermon explained to Shoutmon that he, his brother and Gatomon want to join in his army to bring peace in the Digital World. And Sorcermon asked Shoutmon to be his adviser and second in command of the army.

Sorcermon is a great leader, a strategist and skilled in magic. He cared for everyone to look after and he studies the history of the world. Sometimes Shoutmon goes to visit Zones or to fight off evil Digimon he always put Sorcermon in charge to protect his castle when he is away. Sometimes he often gives advice to the members of the Fusion Fighters for guidance and encouragement.

Sorcermon also had a close relationship with Taomon. Taomon is a yellow fox in a white robes and she is another one of the strategists in the army.

She and Sorcermon usually play a game of chess to see who is the better strategist in the army. Sorcermon had always best her in strategy, but Taomon sometimes made a few wins against Sorcermon. That is when those two got along will and Sorcermon began to have feelings for Taomon. He had yet to tell her to be his mate. But he knows Taomon is somewhere in this world and she can take care of herself. And now he is in the strange world with his companions.

This meant one thing to both Sorcermon and Greymon did not have time to wait, but to go forward to find the others. But Greymon does not have the patience as Sorcermon knows him will. He can only hope his King, his brother, his soon to be mate, and the others are alright.

XXX

Greymon was already beginning to regret his offer to allow Beastmon to ride on his shoulders. Beastmon might have been intending to do something like keep watch up there, but there was very little that she could see that Greymon couldn't himself. And, more importantly, she kept falling asleep, and that was getting very annoying because everytime she did, Greymon had to slow his pace down and try and make sure that she stayed balanced up there and didn't fall off, which was extremely difficult to do when she attempted to curl into a ball and catnap.

Several times, one of her long-clawed paws slipped over the side of Greymon's horned head and came to rest over one of his eyes, effectively obscuring his vision out of one side of his head. He growled in frustration whenever this happened, and at one point, she somehow managed to cover both of his eyes with one front paw and back paw and he had to stop completely before he walked into something and both Sorcermon and Deputymon had to wake her up, which was, apparently, not an easy thing to do.

Greymon was quite grateful for Sorcermon and Deputymon's company at the time like this. While he would have preferred someone with more of his speed, both the White Wizard and treasure hunter were good traveling companions. With Sorcermon's leadership they would be lost without him or Shoutmon, even he was the King's adviser and second in command. They talked quietly to one another as they moved along, scanning the skies for any sign of aerial Digimon and forcing their way through the dense scrub land around them. Greymon had to maneuver around slightly to avoid crashing the small, spindly trees that dotted the place, but he made no complaints.

XXX

They stopped overnight once the sun began to set. The mountains were still easily in view behind them and they had not gotten quite as far as Greymon had been hoping since he had been burdened with his mostly sleeping passenger, but he could only hope that things would get better in the morning. As they spent the night around a small campfire which Sorcermon and Deputymon had both set up, Beastmon had seemed almost cute. She had barely noticed the transition from traveling to camping, having awoken just long enough to climb off Greymon and curl up on the ground before snoozing again.

"How does she do it?" Greymon muttered to Sorcermon and Deputymon quietly as he stared at the Princess curled onto a ball. "How can she possibly sleep so much and so easily?"

"I was wondering the same thing too?" Sorcermon said as he stared at Beastmon. "I my have been the King's adviser and yet I know little about Beastmon."

"It's her metabolism, I suppose." Deputymon shrugged, twirling one of his guns mindedly. "She doesn't consciously go to sleep all the time, she just nods off. You know, Wisemon once told me that some of the books from the Human World which he keeps replicating in the castle library is called Sleeping Beauty. Apparently it's about some Princess or other who falls under a spell and sleeps for a hundred years until she's woken up by a handsome Prince or some other rubbish."

"How does that even work?" Greymon frowned. "How did the Prince know how to wake her up from the spell? Was he a Wizard?"

Sorcermon looked at Greymon oddly. "Are you talking about my brother being a Prince?" He questioned.

"No, I'm not referring to your brother, I meant to say that the Prince apparently kissed her and the spell lifted." Deputymon shrugged. "I dunno. I never read the story. It's never been my thing."

"He kissed a sleeping stranger?" Greymon raised a brow and Sorcermon was looking at Deputymon oddly.

"Yeah, I know." Deputymon chuckled. "Quite strange, isn't it?"

"No kidding." Greymon snorted and Sorcermon grunted as they said the same time.

"Anyway, my point is Beastmon's about the closest thing to being a real life version of that Princess that I've ever seen." The gunslinger Digimon pointed out, holstering the pistol deftly. "It's almost like it was written for her. Sometimes I'm a bit envious. She doesn't seem to have a care in the world."

"Yes, but that's it!" Greymon growled. "That is my point. It's damn annoying. She just doesn't seem to grasp the seriousness of this situation. What does she expect to happen? We've been transported to who knows where, where any kind of dangerous or powerful Digimon or any creature could be lurking and she just naps! Doesn't she have any priorities at all? Does she just think that everything will sort itself out and everything will be fine? Does she just expect us to protect her?"

"You seem to have issues with her." Sorcermon said.

"Your saying you won't?" Deputymon frowned.

"Yes, just a little and of course I will." Greymon huffed. "What I mean is, does she just expect us to look after her for her and not attempt to pitch in and look after herself?"

"She's a Princess." Deputymon shrugged. "She's used to the good life, I suppose. From what I'm seen of her, she's always had servants and soldiers to do things for her. I don't think she even knows how to handle doing things on her own. Didn't stop her from completely devouring that Chuchumon though. I don't think I've ever seen anything scarier than her face when she saw that giant mouse. Still, the point is, yes. She's always had other people looking out for her. She expects it. It's natural for her. And she's definitely not a fighter."

Greymon sighed. "Reminded me again why she joined the Fusion Fighters at all? Knightmon I understand but why her?"

"I was wondering too is to why she is in the army?" Sorcermon asked.

Deputymon somehow managed to snort, despite the fact he had no visible nose or mouth. "I believe it had something to do with her having a crush on Mikey. She wanted to go because he was going. Shoutmon told me she was all over him when they won at the Lake Zone."

Sorcermon and Greymon both stared at Deputymon for several seconds. "Are you serious?" They asked slowly.

"She, an adult Digimon Princess, had a crush on a human child probably about half her age?" Greymon said in disbelief.

"That is odd for a human and Digimon as couples?" Sorcermon said in shock. "But I never met the General."

Deputymon chuckled. "Messed up right?"

"No kidding." Greymon signed. "At least nothing came of it though. Didn't that human girl had also followed Mikey around also have a crush on him?"

"Angie? Yeah, she did, though she'd probably deny it. She got so mad whenever Beastmon tried to cuddle up to him. Perfectly understandable really. At least Mervamon did something sensible and went for a guy who things could actually workout with. I think Beastmon had gotten over her crush by the end of the war, but she still hung around out of loyalty to Mikey and the rest of us by that point. And she's still around even now so... that has to count for something, right?"

"You my have a point." Sorcermon said, looking at Beastmon who is still asleep.

"I suppose." Greymon sighed, looking down at the Digimon who was completely unaware that they were talking about her, or even talking at all. "But I still think that she could try and stay awake a bit more. She'd be more likely to survive if we found ourselves in a fight if she was awake to begin with."

"That's true." Deputymon nodded. "Maybe we should try and make her walk tomorrow."

"Good luck with that." Greymon chuckled. "Speaking of tomorrow, any ideas where we should go from here."

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I am getting hungry." Deputymon murmured. "Thirsty too. I know that we need to track down the others but I think our first priority tomorrow will be finding food and water of some description. For you two that probably means that you guys might need to go hunting. I haven't seen any convenient Digibits Trees since we got here."

"No, neither have I." Greymon shook his head as they turned to Sorcermon for advice.

"I know we need to search for the others and get some food and water for supplies." Sorcermon stated. "We also need to find some kind of civilization with people to tell us where we are."

"Your right Sorcermon, but what about her?" Greymon turned towards Beastmon. "We'll be lucky to find any giant saucers of milk lying around or any convenient Cuhchumon."

Deputymon shuddered. "Beastmon can probably hunt herself if the need arises, but I'll see if I can't find something for her as well. There might be a few morsels around here she can stomach. But I think we need to find water first. There's bound to be a stream around here somewhere, and if there is then we should hopefully run into it eventually."

Sorcermon and Greymon both nodded. Little was said between them after that, and the dinosaur stood guard over the campsite while Deputymon and Sorcermon both dozed and Beastmon continued to sleep on, oblivious to everything around her.

XXX

When morning came along once again, Deputymon quietly shook Beastmon awake once more. The Princess stretched lazily, her two tails flickering and her claws splayed as she smacked her lips. "I'm getting thirsty." She murmured as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her paw. "Can somebody get me a drink of water?"

"Your Highness, we don't have water." Deputymon pointed out. "We didn't have any on us when we were transported and we haven't yet found any in this strange new place."

"And besides." Sorcermon spoke out. "We need to keep moving and try and find some water if we want a drink."

"Oh. Okay." Beastmon sat up, yawning politely into her paw and looking ready to fall asleep again on the spot. "Well, I'm thirsty do let's get going shall we? Greymon, can I climb up on your back again please?"

"Can't you walk, Princess?" Greymon grumbled. "You'd be more likely to stay awake if you stayed on your feet, wouldn't you?"

Beastmon pouted. "I can't help it if I fall asleep all the time. It doesn't matter if I'm walking or sitting, I always just go to sleep. Please let me ride again. Your head is so comfy."

Greymon threw a sharp glance at Deputymon to stop him from snickering and Sorcermon just slap himself in the face, Greymon sighed and said. "Fine. We're wasting time here."

"Thank you." Beastmon purred and climbed aboard once again in a momentary display of cheerfulness which counteracted her usual appearance. "Mush!" She giggled slightly as she patted on Greymon's horns.

"Mush?" Greymon growled indignantly, setting off regardless. "What am I, a camel?"

"You don't say mush to Camels." Deputymon called up, setting off beside them.

"And it is weird to call Greymon a stead." Sorcermon said as he is in front of them.

"Whatever." Greymon grumbled.

"Aw, someone's a little grumpy today." Beastmon grinned as she is sitting on top of Greymon's head.

"And getting grumpier." Greymon muttered under his breath. He felt quite demeaned at the moment, after all, he was not a pack animal, yet he seemed to be being used as one. Still, he didn't voice anything else as they continued through the scrub. A few bird-like noises issued from the bushes around them, but they paid them no mind.

They probably would have thought, if they had notice that the noises were coming from carefully concealed humans in long green cloaks, peering out at the strange procession with masked faces and keen eyes. There were more of them than there had been from the start, at least five of them now. But they made no move against the four Digimon. They just watched and waited. For now.

XXX

To her credit, Beastmon managed to stay awake longer than she had managed to yesterday this time. She seemed to be enjoying the ride and was even sitting upright on Greymon's head, each of her twin tails wrapped around Greymon's side horns to help her anchored in place.

But that did stop her from yawning about every ten seconds and sound was beginning to annoy Greymon immensely, it was never the same length twice. He found himself holding his breath and counting how many seconds each yawn lasted and he had to physically stop his eye from twitching.

Why in the Digital World did he have to get lumped in with her?

This feeling increased tenfold when Beastmon started making demands. They weren't terribly difficult to carry out, but Greymon had never had to carted to anybody's needs in this way before and it irritated him considerably.

"Greymon, could you slow down a little? I think I'm getting a little motion sickness."

"Greymon, can you go over there please. I think there's a piece of nice looking fruit on that tree."

"Greymon, could we go a bit faster now? My mouth is getting really dry."

"Ohh, a butterfly! Greymon, stop. Let me see if I can catch that butterfly!"

"Greymon, can we stop for a bit. I'd like to take a nap."

Greymon growled a little bit when she said this last one. "Princess, I am going to keep going." He stated a little sharply. "We have more important things to do right now than sleep. We need to find the others, get some food and some water and work out where we are. Sleep can wait."

"No, it can't." Beastmon frowned. "I've always gone to sleep when I want to go to sleep, and I want to go to sleep now. There's a nice shady spot over there that looks nice. Stop and let me get off, will you?"

Greymon was utterly flabbergasted at her complete lack of priorities and her stubborn streak but before he could protest, Beastmon had actually rolled over to the large tree. Which she had been pointing out before.

"We can't stop now." Greymon snarled slightly. "We don't know if this place is safe."

"I'll be safe as long as you and Sorcermon protect me." Beastmon smiled. Greymon had to stop his jaw from dropping and Sorcermon was looking at her with disappointment. Beastmon seemed to be completely unaware of how arrogant she was being. It wasn't as if she was deliberately being snooty like a lot of Princes and Princesses might have been, some of them tended to go out of their own way to be like that. Beastmon wasn't like that. She was friendly and loving and caring, like a good Princess should be. But she just seemed to expect everyone to just stop whatever they were doing and cater to her with no questions asked. It seemed like that was just the way the world worked for her. She just expected things to go her way, as they always had been in the past.

Beastmon curled up in the shade and let out her longest yawn yet, it lasted ten seconds. Then she smiled sleeping at Sorcermon, Greymon and Deputymon, they still hadn't moved from their current position.

"What?" She asked.

This time Sorcermon picked his opinion and said. "Princess Beastmon, I believe Greymon is right. We should move on."

"And we will when I've had my catnap." Beastmon smiled pleasantly.

"Yes but..." Deputymon waved his arms in a random fashion. "We're just wasting time here. It's like Greymon and Sorcermon both said, we need to find what need to survive and..."

"Okay then." She interrupted. "Here's what you can do, if you like. Deputymon, you can go and look around for some food and water for all of us, while Sorcermon and Greymon, you two can stay here and stand guard for me, right?"

"Split up?" Greymon asked. "That's not such a good idea. It might be difficult to find each other again later if we do that. And there is better chance of protection if we stay in numbers."

"Besides." Sorcermon said as he added. "Going out alone is a bad idea, when we are in the middle of a forest and we could be expecting trouble."

This time Beastmon didn't even seem to hear the protests and she curled up and said. "Off you go. Nighty-night."

And within seconds, she was snoozing.

The Wizard, dinosaur and gunslinger all stared at the catwoman for several blank seconds.

"Wow." Deputymon muttered eventually. "I see what you were getting at. She really doesn't seem to grasp that we're in an urgent situation at all, does she?"

"What does she expect to happen?" Greymon snarled. "Does she just expect everything to work out in the end of this own accord? This is utterly ridiculous. We might have been able to go double the distance we've traveled at this point if she was taking this more seriously. And she just expects us to look after her."

"Even so we must not let our guard down." Sorcermon calmly said. "But we are in a new world we don't know about. so we must stay alert!"

"Yes and maybe that's why she doesn't think this is so urgent." Deputymon shrugged. "Maybe she expects everyone else to be searching for her just like how we are searching for them right now."

"And they will be." Greymon agreed. "But it's a lot more complicated than that. Who knows how far away they are?"

"She doesn't." Deputymon shrugged. "I guess she's never had to think much about this sort of thing before."

"Well she has to." Greymon growled. "I'm going to wake her up and get us moving again."

"Your right Greymon." Sorcermon agreed. "We can't afford to waste time and we need to find the others and find King Shoutmon."

"Whoa, wait you guys!" Deputymon quickly stepped in front of the angry dinosaur and the second in command. "Let's just go with this for now. She's obviously going to keep falling asleep like this in the future, which means she's obviously more of a hindrance than a help. Maybe if I go out and look for water on my own then I can cover more ground. Besides, I know what I'm doing. You two just stay here and keep an eye on her and I'll be back soon, okay?"

Greymon snorted. "Fine." He muttered. "But try and be quick."

"Alright." Sorcermon signed. "Try to stay on guard and avoid trouble."

Deputymon flicked his hat. "I'm always quick and I will stay on guard." He said as he turned and quickly ran off in the direction that they had been going. Sorcermon and Greymon both watched him go for several moments until the gunslinger Digimon had vanished into the forest.

Greymon then rumbled slightly to himself and Sorcermon grunted himself as they both turned to Beastmon, snoozing away without a care in the world. She looked so peaceful, a small smile on her face as she dreamed of whatever it was that cat Princess dreamt about. And in away, it was that peaceful look on her face which irritates Greymon the most. Sorcermon don't seemed bothered, just disappointed at the Princess. Beastmon should be worried. She should be fretting over her own safety and the the safety of others and whether they would be able to survive and if they could get back to the castle or what might be lurking in the undergrowth waiting to jump out of them. She would be worried.

But she wasn't. She was completely relaxed. No priorities at all.

Greymon grimaced and he turned back to Sorcermon and said. "It seems that you and me are to look after Beastmon, Sorcermon." He muttered to the Wizard. "I can't understand why she can't help us if we are under attack and to fight alongside us?"

Sorcermon look up to Greymon's face then back to Beastmon that she is still sleeping. "I am not sure why Greymon?" He answered. "But Beastmon never did fight in a battlefield on her own and she had lived in all of her life in royalty, not knowing a real battle and never trained herself in a fight."

"Can you at least try and trained her?" Greymon asked.

"I could try, but I will only trained her if she asked me to teach her how to fight." Sorcermon answered. "But for now we have to wait for Deputymon to return to us."

Greymon nodded as the two Digimon turned to face the surroundings, watching out for anything that might pose a threat to the snoozing Princess. They'd never had to deal with this sort of thing when Greymon was with team Blue Flare and Sorcermon being the King's adviser. Even Mikey hadn't put up with this. Beastmon had been able to snooze as she pleased inside the Fusion Loader while the rest of them got on with tasks. But right now, they did not, unfortunately, have a Fusion Loader. So Beastmon was going to have to stay on the outside and the others were going to have to try and deal with this.

Greymon wondered how long it would take before he went insane. As for Sorcermon he will have to lead them to find all the other Digimon, but they still not sure what is waiting for them out there in this forest.

XXX

Deputymon moved off into the scrub lands, brushing the shrubbery aside with his arms and moving his enormous chest revolver carefully around the forest as he is not to snag the barrel on anything. He was beginning to feel the effects of thirst quite strongly and knew that while he could survive without it awhile longer yet, he would need to find something sooner or later.

If only it would rain. That would make things easier. He could collect the stuff in his hat if the worst came to the worst. And it had to rain at places like this sometimes, didn't it? Otherwise there wouldn't be all these trees all over the place. But, there wasn't anything in the sky above, although there did seem to be some dark, foreboding storm clouds in the east over the peaks of the dark mountains.

But there was definitely something... about them. Something unsettling. It disturbed him.

He pressed on regardless, wondering as he did so if he had made the right choice to leave Sorcermon, Greymon and Beastmon alone together. Beastmon might be oblivious to how much her lack of seriousness and general demanding attitude was grating on Greymon's nerves, but Deputymon could see it quite clearly. The dinosaur was not experienced at this kind of thing. Most of the problems he had to deal with involved attacking something. For Sorcermon, he is a Wizard Digimon with great leadership and will to look after the others and he is a very patient Digimon.

Deputymon himself was a lot more patient like the Wizard Digimon. That came with his field. You had to be very patient when you were a treasure hunter. Sometimes it might take you months or even up to a year, to find a particularly treasure that you were looking for. The whole point of treasure was that it wax supposed to be concealed well after all. And Deputymon had a lot of experience at the hardships and struggles of beginning a treasure hunter. It had been his whole life before the Fusion Fighters.

But even he had to admit that Beastmon was quite taxing, even if she didn't intend to be or know that she was. Greymon did have a couple of valid points about her, Sorcermon doesn't seem to know Beastmon will when he joined, but Beastmon genuinely didn't know any better. She had never experienced anything but being a Princess, even while a member of the Fusion Fighters. And getting lost in the woods was no place for a spoiled Princess like herself. Shoutmon waz different as a King, he knew what he was doing and so does Sorcermon who is the King's adviser. Beastmon didn't. She'd never lived enough of the rough lifestyle.

But Deputymon put that out of his mind for now. He had to focus on finding food and water. Water was the most important. Everything else could wait until afterwards, but water was something that they couldn't do without. All of them needed to quench their thirst, even if they were made out of data.

Fortunately, while water might not be a treasure in the traditional sense of the world, Deputymon knew what to look for when it come to finding water. He had needed to himself in the past, but of course he had always gone to the strange new place by choice back then, as opposed to this time where he had been dumped here.

Once he found a slope, he began to head downhill. Water was far more likely to be at the bottom of any dips in the ground considering it would always flow downwards, so that was his best bet. Every now and then he would stop and listen instantly to the wind, something which had been impossible to do when he had been walking next to the heavy footfalls of Greymon. He was listening out for the sound of trickling water, which could actually travel quite far under the right circumstances.

When he heard nothing, he moved on once again. Every now and then he would alternate between checking the vegetation and monitoring the ground in front of him for something which he could not yet see. He muttered quietly to himself, resolving to stay away from the others for no longer than couple of hours, and if nothing turned up after half an hour away from them in the direction he was going, he would attempt another way.

After a time, when he had still not found what he was looking for, he froze. He had thought, just for a moment, that he had heard some kind of snapping noise in the distance. Faint, but nonetheless unmistakably there. His hands instinctively flew to his sides and drew out his pistols out from thin air, priming his central gun internally at the same time as he hunkered down slightly and began to scan the horizon.

He couldn't see too far in any direction, except up, where he could see the sky and distant mountain peaks, but other than that mostly of all that he could see was trees. And most of what he could hear was silence. Quite a lot of silence actually, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. The birds were still singing, infact, he could hear some calls not to far away from him, and the insects were still chirping.

Still, it couldn't hurt to be careful and he went on, proceeding with caution.

Eventually, after he had changed trajectory to head off around ninety degrees from the direction which he had been going in, he finally discovered something interesting. The land was surprisingly empty of creatures, he hadn't seen a single Digimon since he got here, but he did eventually find some tracks that looked like they had come from hooves. Small hooves, like those of a Centarumon except not as big. This was usually a good sign and he knew it. Where there were locals, there would be more likely be water.

He still couldn't say for sure if there was water nearby, but he began to follow the hoof tracks, hoping that they would lead him to something worthwhile. Now that he had found what he was looking for on the ground, he began to stop and check the trees a little more. He carefully examined the leaves every now and then, checking their shapes and colors.

And it certainly seemed like he was getting warmer. He knew that trees which were closer to water were naturally going to be more lush, both from increased from rainwater and from a greater density of water soaked into the ground. And it seemed that whatever footprints he had been following had been taking him closer to a prospective goal.

Continuing to check the trees every now and then, he also paused to listen every time he stopped. And... there! was it? Yes, that sounded like the trickling of a stream. He dashed off in the direction of the noise for about a hundred yards or so and then stopped to listen again. Louder this time. Definitely the sound of water. He had found it!

He pressed on, practically leaping over rocks and springing around bushes, his central gun making things a bit awkward but otherwise moving fast. And then finally, he found it.

It was quite a small stream, running between two rocky banks through the trees. It was so narrow that it might make drinking from it a little bit awkward, especially for somebody like Greymon who would have to bend over and literally plant his nose into the water. But that wasn't a problem. All he had to do was follow its course and he was pretty sure that it would widen out. But, just to be sure, he began to hurry along in the direction of the trickling, keeping pace with the water itself as he ran.

He still hadn't really seen anything that could be used as food, but he put that out of his mind for now. Water was more important.

But what Deputymon eventually found surprised him. While the stream did broaden out quite a bit, what he found that he went over a bit, he eventually found that it went over a clifftop and tumbled down several dozen meters towards the base, where a large oval shaped filled with the clear water, churning round and round beneath the falling waters, only flowing out of the pool through a narrow rocky gap and out to form a river beyond it.

"Well." Deputymon nodded, sounding please with himself. "Found the water, I guess that means that I can check one thing off the list of things that the Princess needs doing. Hmm, I should probably find a way of getting down the cliff though. Jumping off certainly isn't going to do anybody any favors.

And then the gunslinger Digimon picked a direction and head off, but it didn't take long before something caught his attention and he stopped. It was another footprint, this one is larger and more distinct than the tracks which he had been following before. Large and with a pointed end, it was definitely a footprint of some kind of boot.

Meaning that there was some kind of intelligent life nearby after all.

And it looks fresh too.

XXX

Not far from the site where Deputymon was currently searching for a way down the cliff, Captain Faramir, Prince of Ithilien and brother of Boromir, grimly pulled another arrow out of the body of one of the many dead Orcs in front of him. Things were getting worse by the day and he knew it. Looking up, he could see more of his men, the green-clad Rangers, rifling amongst the corpses and salvaged what ammunition they could reuse. Every arrow was becoming precious these days, and so every arrow possible was retaken from every battlefield.

The Orc patrol had been relatively small in comparison to some of the others. Perhaps it had been an attempt at a stealth approach to try and get past the Rangers themselves. Faramir, as the leader of the Ithilien Rangers, was very proud of his men. Next to the forces of Mordor their numbers were meager, but they were exceptionally good at what they did, and if the circumstances were right, they were more than capable of taking of patrols several times the number of their own forces.

The Mordor Orcs feared them greatly, and they were right to. The Rangers were a force to be reckoned with out in the woods and scrub lands where they were utilized. Each of them was descended from the people who had lived in Ithilien before it had been taken by the forces of Mordor many years ago, and they knew the terrain like they knew their own weapons.

They were masters of stealth, and experts at guerrilla warfare, camouflaging cloaks and light feet allowing them to go unheard and unseen by anybody who walked through their woods. They had learned how to use berries and other woodland substances to mask their scent, which was particular benefit against the Orcs. Nobody ever saw them coming and when they attack, nobody could ever tell where the attacks were coming from. They were like hidden death, their arrows flying and downing convoys of the enemy before they even knew there was a threat.

They were able to take out small armies by catching them off guard with only a few hundred of their own, or even less, in this manner.

Faramir himself was the single best Ranger in all of the land. As the youngest son of the Steward of Gondor, he had decided to invest more in the practice of being a Ranger than a full blown warrior as his brother had been, hoping that the two of them could combine their various strengths to keep Gondor safe from both angles. Now, Boromir was gone off to Rivendell on his quest to discover the meaning behind the dreams that he and Faramir had several months prior, and Faramir was finding himself more and more put into Boromir's positions. He would be the first to admit that he was far less suited to that kind of thing than out here in the woods where he knew exactly what he was doing.

He wrinkled his nose at the foul smell of Orcs before him as he plucked out two more arrows and restored them to his quiver. This bunch might have been rather small, but any patrol of Orcs into his lands could not be tolerated, and unfortunately for this lot they had all paid the price for it, while the Rangers had lost nobody.

It had been good mission, and, like with every arrow, every Ranger was going to be needed nowadays.

Because Faramir was noticing more and more that the numbers of Mordor forces in his lands were growing, despite their best efforts.

And it wasn't just Orcs that he was referring to either. While the scout patrols were most often Orcs, there were increasing reports of convoys of Men from foreign lands marching through in the direction of the Black Gates of Mordor. Faramir had no doubt that they had ill intentions, or at least the ones in command did. Killing other Men pained Faramir, he had no way of knowing which of them were truly evil, and which of them were following out of blind loyalty to their leaders or even fear of the consequences if they disobeyed.

And yet, it seemed that they had little choice now. The most common forces now heading through Ithilien belonged to the Haradrim and Khandish. Men of Harad are from the enormous countries of Near Harad and Far Harad to the south. Also known as Southrons for that very reason, the Men of Khand are from the south too and are neighbouring allies next to Harad, and sometimes they called them Variags. Both the Haradrim and Khandish had a very long uneasy past with Gondor as it was, they did many attempts in the past to invade and spread their own territories.

But Faramir could not remember a time where they had come in such numbers. Everyday another convoy seemed to head north, the Haradrim had brought something with them far more terrifying than any force of Men, their Mumakils. Dealing with Mumakils was very different than dealing with an army. The enormous creatures towered far taller than any other creature that Faramir had ever seen. A Man would be lucky to be very much taller than its ankle, and their enormous trunks and giant sweeping tusks made their formidable strength alone, and adding enormous frame, tough skin and tendency to go on a rampage, they were often seen as almost indestructible.

And to top it off, the Haradrim had not only somehow found a way to tame the giant creatures, after a fashion, they also constructed massive war towers which each Mumakils carried on its back, allowing dozens of archers to rain arrows down on anything that was beyond the reach of the Mumakil itself. They also have horses as cavalry for the riders.

As for the Men of Khand they are like samurai warriors with a flag of the sun on their backs and they are known as the greatest cavalry in the the world that could rival against Rohan's cavalry. They also have battle chariots for them to run over their enemies.

Faramir had been going to greater and greater lengths recently to try and put a stop to the Mumakils. Arrows alone did little to them, so he had been attempting to organize attempts to build pitfalls for them. It was a lot of effort for the nimble and lean Rangers, as the holes did require a degree of architectural construction, to ensure that they were both large enough to allow a Mumakil to fall in completely, and covered enough to both hide the pitfall from view and ensure that whatever was covering it was strong enough to allow humans to walk across it, for that any Haradrim fell into the trap first, those steering the Mumakil would become wise to it and the trap's function would have been lost.

Pressure was building on Faramir day in and day out now. He hoped that Boromir would return soon. Indeed, there had been reports that the well known Horn of Gondor had been heard up to the North. He hoped that Boromir was okay, but of course he currently had no way of knowing.

He put it from his mind. Stressing about these things was not going to do him any good. He focused on the matter at hand. He had already received orders from his father that he was to pull out of Ithilien and help to reinforce Osgiliath. Faramir had reluctantly agreed, though he had been against the idea from the start. The Rangers were not half as useful in a city as they were out in the wild. No matter how skilled they were, their numbers were far too small to help deal with full frontal assaults.

Nevertheless, Faramir had a job to do, and he would carry it out to the best of his ability in his brother's stead. Hopefully, the situation in Osgiliath wouldn't last long, and he would be able to return to the wild where he was actually of use.

Shouldering his bow once again, Faramir turned when he heard the voice of Mablung, one of his trusted Rangers, hailing him from a distance. Mablung had not taken part in this particular raid, staying behind to coordinate the scouting teams, but now Faramir could see him hurrying towards them, a look that Faramir could not quite discern on his face. Faramir's second in command name Madril is in Osgiliath with a less then a few hundred Rangers to protect the ruin city alongside with a Gondorian Warrior name Benethor Captain of the Citadel Guard.

"Mablung." Faramir nodded, as he approached with a couple of other Rangers flaking him. "What is it? Has there been any word from my father?"

"None." Mablung said. "Our orders still stand, but I'm afraid, Captain Faramir, that we may have to delay slightly before carrying them out. Some of our scouts have been given some disturbing reports, and I felt it is best to inform you immediately.

"What reports?" Faramir frowned. "Yet another enemy convoy?"

"We... are not quite sure." Mablung confessed with a grimace. "The reports are... most strange. They do not speak of an army, but rather a few odd creatures that have not been seen before. Something new, and not far from our current position. The descriptions are... odd at best, but the main one consists of some creature which looks like a dragon, but isn't."

Faramir frowned, but felt worry building inside him nonetheless. There had not been a dragon in Gondor since long before his time, but even something that looked like a dragon was more than likely to be dangerous. "Any other description than that?"

Mablung nodded to one of the Rangers he had brought with him, and that Ranger stepped forward. "I saw it myself, Captain Faramir. It did not look a little bit like a dragon but there were many things different about it. It wasn't as big, for one, though it was still about four times taller than an average Man. It didn't have any wings either and it walk on two legs rather than four. It's arms were quite small but its head and teeth were very large, sir. It was dark blue with orange stripes on its back and tail and... well... it had three horns. Two of them stuck out to the sides and one out of the top of its nose, but the one on its nose was metal, like a blade of some kind. And it had another smaller blade on the end of its tail. It was like nothing I've ever seen before, and it looked formidable."

Faramir's frown remained in place, but he was secretly worried. He couldn't let that worry show, but at the rather detailed description he couldn't help but believe his Ranger was telling the truth. Had Sauron come up with some brand new terror to plague them? It would not be the first time he had done so if that was the case.

"Movements?" Faramir asked. "How long ago was it spotted?"

"Last evening, Captain." The Ranger replied. "It was on the long distance patrol to Emyn Arnen and we had spread out when one of our numbers first spotted it. We monitored its progress for a while before we determined that it was definitely heading north west."

"Into Gondor." Faramir observed with a grimace.

"Yes, sir." The Ranger nodded. "My guess is that if it keeps going the way its heading, it might end up at Cair Andros. But... that's not the whole news, Captain. It's not alone. It appears to have three companions."

"There are four of these large lizard creatures?" Faramir asked in alarm.

"No, Captain." The Ranger replied. "Just one. The other three it travels with are much smaller and not lizard-like at all. They too are things I've never seen before. One of them appears to be... well... it might sound a little silly, Captain."

"Go on." Faramir urged.

"It was like a cat." The Ranger went on hesitantly. "But again, not a cat. It was the shape and size of a woman, but with definitely had cat-like features like long claws, large ears, thin fur and a tail. Except that it also had another tail as well. And it was actually riding on the dragon creature like a steed. The third creature... I can't even begin to describe it properly. It was like a very short man... or a Dwarf perhaps. But it was wearing a big hat so we couldn't see its face and... well... it was like it had some giant metal pole sticking out of its front. It looked ridiculous. And the last creature looks like a short man too and it was wearing like some kind of Wizard."

Faramir looked shocked. "A Wizard? Which one and what color was he wearing?" Faramir asked the Ranger.

"Well, he was dress in white and was also wearing a pointed hat. He was wearing a white cloak and was wearing a mask to cover his face and he is armed with a staff." The Ranger said.

Faramir was wondering if the Wizard in white is Saruman, he had heard that the White Wizard in Isengard betrayed them to join the Dark Lord Sauron. But the Wizard in white was to short to be Saruman. Who ever it is could be another of Sauron's servants. Faramir couldn't help but give the Ranger an odd look for a few moments, before the Ranger looked embarrassed and said. "It's true sir. That is what they all look like."

"I see." Faramir nodded. "Anything else to report?"

"Not really, sir." The Ranger shook his head. "We called in several other Ranger units to keep an eye on them while we report back."

"Our last report stated that they were still heading in the same direction." Mablung agreed. "And all the reports confirm the same appearance. I do not believe this is some trick sire. I believe it to be genuine."

"Then we must decide what to do about it immediately." Faramir declared. "How far is it from here now?"

"Not far." Mablung replied gravely. "Apparently the big creature, the White Wizard, and the cat woman have stopped while the... pole-Dwarf... has set out on its own. We cannot get close enough to hear what they are saying, but reports indicate that all four of them are worthy of speech. They are perhaps a mile or two out from the Forbidden Pool as we speak."

"Then we must intercept them." Faramir said immediately, signaling to his Rangers to fall in and stepping past Mablung and the other Rangers to head in the direction to the Pool, taking charge of the situation as the others fell in step behind him. "I do not know what their purpose is, but if that large creature is indeed a dragon, or perhaps a distance relative of the dragon race, then it's most likely that its intentions are not friendly. Dragons have long been a race of Darkness and while the few remaining Dragons of Middle Earth might be limited to only unknown regions, I cannot risk this one becoming a threat."

"So, we are to attempt to attack it?" Mablung asked. "If it is as tough as a regular Dragon I fear that our arrows may do little to it. Perhaps we would dig a trap for it?"

"There is not the time." Faramir grimaced. "And we do not yet know it is even a threat. We have no idea what we're up against, and I don't like it. You say that one of the four creatures has gone off on its own?"

"Yes." Mablung nodded. "Approximately twenty minutes ago according to our sources."

"Then we must make it a priority to find and capture that single creature." Faramir ordered. "If we can interrogate it, we may learn more about this situation."

"But what of the Dragon?" Mablung asked, deciding to just call it a dragon rather than a dragon creature or dragon thing.

"How strong would you estimate it is?" Faramir asked.

"Strong, sire." The other Ranger nodded. "You can see its muscles quite clearly, and if it is anything like the dragons of old then it may possess flame breathing ability. Our cover will be useless against it if it just burns away and us with it."

"Establish a series of relays." Faramir commanded. "A line of Rangers from the creature to the Forbidden Pool. I want to know its movements at all times. We may be able to use that to set up an ambush for it passes through an ideal location. But if you say that this... cat woman... is its rider then perhaps she is the key to controlling it. Perhaps we will not need to take down the creature itself. And if battle is joined then we can pick our places carefully and, if nothing else, drive it away from the Forbidden Pool and away from Gondorian settlements."

"Very well, sire." Mablung nodded. "I shall spread the word..."

"Captain!" Cried a voice from up ahead, as another Ranger hurried from the entrance ahead. "We've been watching the Dwarf with the metal pole and it has discovered the Forbidden Pool. It is there now, attempting to discover a way down the cliff and make it to the water."

Faramir cursed. "Then perhaps it knows of our base."

"I don't know sire." The Ranger replied. "It may just be after the water. It isn't really trying to be stealthy, though it is wary of its surroundings. We withdrew all of our forces inside the caves behind the waterfall except for those keeping an eye on it. I do not believe it is aware that it is being followed."

"Is it armed?" Faramir asked.

"Unknown, sire." The Ranger signed. "If it does have weapons then we have not seen them. It certainly has no bow or blade, but we have occasionally witnessed it holding two small blunted metal objects which resemble smaller versions of the pole sticking out its front. They don't look very effective hand to hand combat weapons but we cannot discern anything else they might be for."

"Then this could be a stroke of good fortune." Faramir replied. "Have archers stationed around all of the ledges around the Forbidden Pool, but keep them hidden until I give the word. Everyone else." He turned to the rest of the group behind him. "Spread out. keep each other in sight, but stay low. We must head towards the Pool from all possible angles. Steel yourselves and await my signal, but have an arrow ready. We want to take it alive, but if it resists then try to injure rather than kill it. I have some questions I would ask of it."

The Rangers nodded wordlessly, pulling up their masks and green hoods so the only visible parts of their faces were their eyes and swiftly disappearing into the woods to efficiently carry out their tasks. Faramir nodded to Mablung and a couple of other Rangers, indicating that they should stay close as he drew his sword rather than his bow and moved swiftly and near silently through the undergrowth in the direction of the Pool, while the one who had delivered the news hurried back faster to give the word to the Rangers inside.

One of the biggest problems of being a stealth fighter was communication, which meant that once the orders were given it was difficult to coordinate anything beyond simple signals. But Faramir trusted his platoon to carry out their tasks effectively on their own. That was what made them the best.

But right now they had a meeting to attend.

XXX

Deputymon hopped off the last remnants of the hill that he had found, turning to glance back up at it judgmentally. It was still relatively steep, and Greymon might have a bit of trouble navigating his large body down below, but it would probably carry on being steep for a while in either direction.

In any case at least he could now drink his own thirst. And when he did, he would be able to head back. He'd have retraced his steps, since he didn't know the exact location where Greymon, Sorcermon and Beastmon were from here, but that was fine. He'd let plenty of trail for him to follow his own way.

Pleased with his success, Deputymon headed off to the pool he had found before. It didn't take him long to reach it. He could hear more of those strange bird calls around this area, but that wasn't surprising. Birds needed to drink too after all.

Upon reaching the water, he hunched over a rock that made up part of the bank and reached down scooping up a handful of water and passing it underneath his neckerchief to his small and unusually hidden mouth. It was cool and refreshing, much like the waters of the lake around the castle back home, and Deputymon could already feel himself being slightly re-energized.

The waterfall crashing over the top of the rise provided a constant backdrop of gushing water and crashing noise and Deputymon, ever watchful, looked up every now and then to make sure that there was nobody around to try and threaten him when his guard was down. When he saw nothing, he went back to drinking again.

Unfortunately, Deputymon's judgment wasn't quite as accurate as he had thought it to be. Eyes were watching him now from all around, peering through the smallest of gaps in the forest from over slight rises and the owners of those eyes were almost completely out of sight, and what parts of them were visible were camouflaged by their attire. Slowly, stealthy, placing each foot with the utmost care, the Rangers of Ithilien inched their way closer to the intruder, arrows and bow strings tight.

The waterfall of their pool was aiding them now. The noise is making it meant that they could move a bit more freely than normal, but they still were careful not to snap twigs or make any other noise. They weren't taking chances. None of them ever did if they could help it.

It was at this point, while Deputymon was drinking, that Faramir arrived and took up position behind a tree, which Mablung behind another trunk. Carefully twisted around to peer through the gap in the plant life and stare at Deputymon.

He had admit he was more than a little shocked. A Dwarf with a pole sticking out of him didn't really describe this guy. The pole looked like it was part of his very body. His boots, his hat, his scarf... everything about him seemed strange and foreign, and years of experience had long since taught Faramir to be wary of what didn't look familiar. And this was anything but familiar.

Still, now was the chance they had been waiting for, when it was otherwise occupied. He signaled with a swift, decisive hand gesture to Mablung, who nodded and passed on the message. Slowly, the Rangers emerged from cover and out into the open, while Deputymon, oblivious, continued to drink. But it was at this point that instinct told him something was up. He didn't hear anything new but the moment his consciousness kick in as he was up and whirled around, pulling his pistols into existence from his waist and raising them with a snap of his arms, safety off and weapons primed, ready to shoot at the bat of an eyelid.

What he saw took him off guard and he almost stumbled backwards into the pool. There were at least thirty fully grown adult humans standing around him, cutting off his escape and with arrows pointed at him. He silently cursed himself. How had he not noticed them? How had they managed to get so close to him and in such numbers?

He grimly took their camouflage. Clearly they were good. They could probably give the elite Monitamons a run for their money.

_Damn._ He thought to himself. _Now what?_

"I assume that there is a reason for your trespassing on this land?" A voice called out over the noise of the waterfall. Deputymon's eyes were taken straight to Faramir as he emerged from his ranks, a white tree design plastered on the front of his jerkin, bow across his shoulder and a sword in his hand. Deputymon was under no illusion that this was the leader of the group.

Faramir stared at the Digimon, not allowing himself to become enthralled at his sheer weirdness. He kept his face steady and said. "Although, in case it's unclear, if you attempt to fight us, my men are more than capable of insuring that you do not live to see your next sunrise." He nodded upwards towards the cliffs. Deputymon blinked and turned slightly to look out of the corner of his eye, balking when he saw that there were at least another thirty archers stationed at various hidden entrances in the cliff-face or on the top of the cliff itself, also with arrows pointed directly at him.

"You are surrounded." Faramir stated needlessly. "Your escape routes have been cut off. I would suggest you lower your weapons, if those are indeed weapons, and do not attempt to resist us." He lift his sword and pointed it at the gunslinger. "You are on our land after all. Now, surrender. Or..."

He dropped his sword.

A split second later, ten arrows thudded into the ground right next to Deputymon's boots. Deputymon scowled, but he knew that he was was a strong Digimon in his own way, although there were many far stronger than himself. And if he needed to, he was pretty sure that he would be able to take out ten to fifteen of those archers with rapid shots of his three guns before the others even had time to act, but that wasn't going to do him any good against such numbers from all angles. They would cut him down before he got within two feet.

Deputymon also felt a slight of anger at himself for this. He had faced down an army of SkullScorpiomon and taken on a group of MetalTyrannomon, all much larger than himself, so why was it always the humans that managed to trap him like this? First Ewan with his surprise attack and now this.

But still, Deputymon knew when to pick his fights and now was not that time. Besides, these guys were probably not evil. He would need to be sure before he tried anything. And so, he dropped his two pistols to the ground and raised his hands. Of course, he could not drop the gun that was on his chest, but perhaps he could use that to his advantage later on.

"Wise move." Faramir nodded. He then signaled with a nod of his head and several Rangers moved in from either side of Deputymon. Obviously they were wary of being in front of him, and by coming from the sides, that meant he couldn't gun them all down at once. Clever. They knew what they were doing, even if they didn't know what he was.

One of the Rangers collected the pistols and stashed them in the cloak, while the others seized his arms and pinned them, forcing Deputymon to his knees. Deputymon resisted the urge to growl, but managed to say. "Hoi! Show some courtesy would you? I am surrendering here."

The Rangers eyes momentarily flashed with surprise, but quickly masked it and forced him down further, until the barrel of his chest gun was pointing into the ground. Deputymon could aim it up again no problem, he was stronger than he looked, but he didn't want to give them the wrong impression if they were the good guys.

Faramir then stepped closer and said. "I am Faramir, son of Denethor and Prince of Ithilien. Since you are in Ithilien yourself, that means that you are under my jurisdiction. Now tell me, who are you? And where do you come from? And for that matter, what are you? You are neither Dwarf or Orc, that I can see."

Deputymon looked up from under the brim of his hat and met Faramir's human eyes with his own oval yellow eyes. "You're good." He admitted. "There's not many people who could all sneak up on me like that at the same time."

"That is not an answer to any of my questions." Faramir pointed out.

"No, mighty Prince, I suppose it isn't." Deputymon chuckled. "Well, anyway, since you asked me so nicely and all, I'm Deputymon. I am a Digimon and I am from a place called the Digital World."

XXX

Sorcermon was sitting on a big rock waiting for Deputymon to return. While Greymon snorted through his nostrils for what felt like the fiftieth time. He knew that it wasn't fair to Beastmon, but for some reason even the sound of her breathing was beginning to annoy him. Maybe it was because it was a reminder of the fact that she wasn't taking things seriously and was just napping.

There was part of him that knew full well that getting irritated at her was not going to help in any way whatsoever.

But it was being drowned out by the rest of him, which was mentally complaining that he to look after someone so... nappy.

Both Sorcermon and Greymon were also wondering what had happened to Deputymon. He had been gone for about an hour and half at this point, and while he had said that he probably wouldn't be gone much for more than two hours, Greymon had thought that he would be quicker than that. Had he got lost? Had he been injured by something? Sorcermon and Greymon had both thought that splitting up was a bad idea and now they could see why. They had no way of knowing what had happened.

On the plus side, they had not heard any gunshots, which meant that it was likely Deputymon had not been attacked by something.

Be that as it may, all they could do for the moment was to just stay here and listen to the sound of Beastmon's breathing.

Which lead Greymon back to being annoyed.

Why couldn't Knightmon have fallen with them here? Or the Pawnchessmons? Or somebody who actually knew what to do with a simple minded airhead Princess? Anybody but him would be better qualified for this. Except perhaps Cyberdramon. Heck, even MailBirdramon would have been more suited to keep an eye on her. He had the patience of a tree, which is to say, unending. Plus he could fly and carry her easily even if she wanted to fall asleep on him.

But none of them were here and both he and Sorcermon were. So now, he just had to stay here and cope with it. Not easy for him at least. Sorcermon my handle Beastmon, because he is patient and a leader that Greymon had to follow.

Behind them, they heard Beastmon yawn and stretch, and they turned their heads to see her flexing her claws using one of her tails to rub her eyes. "Morning again, Sorcermon, Greymon." She smiled. "How are you?"

Greymon grunted non committal and turned back and and Sorcermon said with a nod to her. "Is nice to see you wake up, Princess Beastmon."

"How long was I asleep?" Beastmon asked, leaning against the tree.

"About one and a half hours." Sorcermon replied, judging by the position of the sun.

"That was a good nap." Beastmon smiled. "Considering I was lying on bare earth. Where's Deputymon?"

"He's not back yet." Greymon rumbled lowly, without looking at her. "We haven't heard anything from him since you nodded off."

"Really?" Beastmon pouted. "What's taking him so long? I'm getting thirsty here. And hungry too. It feels like it's so long since we had that feast already, and I didn't get to eat much there because I kept dozing off."

"Perhaps he is having difficulty. Greymon responded, feeling his tail sweeping about slightly, which was never a good sign. It meant his temper was rising.

"He's supposed to be a treasure hunter." Beastmon complained slightly. "Isn't he supposed to be good at this sort of thing? Finding things, I mean?"

"This is a different land." Greymon growled. "His skills might not be so useful here."

"He could be lost as we all know it." Sorcermon said.

"Maybe." Beastmon yawned again. "Well then, maybe I should go back to sleep for a bit."

Greymon's eye twitched. "You should try and stay awake more. What if there was an attack?"

"Besides, we must stay on guard for anything." Sorcermon said as he put his hand on the tip of his hat. "Greymon is right we can't rest here and we need to find Deputymon and the others."

"Then I've got my two big, strong guardians to look after me." Beastmon said. "You two can protect me from anything that comes to get me."

Greymon's eyes narrowed. For some reason, this was the final straw. Beastmon's careless assumption that he would do everything for her, despite being slightly justified since they were supposed to be teammates, as well as the fact that she had asked Deputymon to go off to find stuff for her thus leading them to this situation in the first time, drove Greymon over the edge.

Releasing a roar that shook the trees, Greymon whirled around and pulverized a boulder with a stomp of his foot as he swung his head and bear his teeth in Beastmon's direction. The Princess and Wizard were both completely taken off guard by this, Beastmon squealed and backed up against the trunk, Greymon's red eyes glaring into her ambamber eyes. Sorcermon was staring in shock to never seen Greymon this angry before.

"Oh, will we?" Greymon snarled at her. "You expect me to look after you, do you? You expect Deputymon to just run off and do your bidding, do you? You think that you can just fall asleep and everything will turn out alright because we'll look after you, do you?"

"Greymon." Beastmon was suddenly whimpering. "What... What are you...?"

"I've got some information for you, Princess." Greymon used the word rudely. "You might be royalty, and you might have had everything you've ever needed or wanted handed to you on a platter in the past, but I'm not one of your staff. We are supposed to be a team. The Fusion Fighters United Army, working together to achieve victory. But you don't do that, do you? You just lie back and expect everything to go your way, while you can just lounge around and put no effort into anything. I can barely remember a time where you were useful during the fight against the Bagra Army. You might be pompous and arrogant, but you're definitely a complete airhead!"

Beastmon eyes widened and she pressed her back further against the tree. Sorcermon was shock and sternly said. "Greymon!" Greymon wasn't done yet.

"Are you completely incapable of doing anything for yourself? Or, for that matter, doing something for other people? And you know what the worst of it is? It's that you don't even realize that you're doing it. You are one of the most selfish people I ever know, expecting everybody to go about your orders on a whim, and yet you don't even know you're being selfish. You greet everybody with smiles, but you've got do many airs and graces that it's a wonder you don't float away. can't you just take a look at this situation? We're lost in a strange place with no way of knowing where the others are and no knowledge of what's out there. We've all got to work together to get out of this. Not just me, Sorcermon and Deputymon doing things for you. You too Princess."

"Greymon that is enough!" Sorcermon shouted at Greymon. "She get the ideal of our situation and I can understand your frustration, but we can't fight among ourselves!" Sorcermon know Greymon's frustration and as for Beastmon she need to defend herself if she can't relay on everyone to protect her in the battle on her own.

Beastmon had never seen Greymon go on a rampage like this before and she could feel her eyes beginning to water as tears welled up within them. Nobody had ever shouted at her like this, Greymon's words were really hitting her hard. He was landing verbal blow on her mind, so much so that she wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry.

Greymon snorted and nodded to Sorcermon and back to Beastmon as he reared back up again. In a gentler tone, for him, he said. "Now, since we are teammates, Sorcermon and I are going to look out for like you expect me to. But you should consider playing your own part in this sometime soon." And he turned around and deliberately stared in the other direction.

Now that he'd finished shouting, Greymon felt a little guilty, which was another new sensation for him. There had been very little in his past that he'd had to feel guilty for. But this time he had made Beastmon cry, and there was some part of him which was satisfied with that, which prompted the rest of him to feel guilty. But those words, however unkind, had needed to be said. Beastmon needed to get some sense into her head and fast.

He could hear her whimpering now, but he did nothing to apologize. He'd let her mull over what he said before he did that.

Sorcermon went over to Beastmon to comfort her and said. "I know Greymon is frustrated at you and you need to learn how to find the strength and the will to defend yourself. I can train you so you could be able to help to fight alongside us."

Beastmon was indeed mulling. She had turned around to place her arm against the trunk and then press her face into it so she could quietly sob against it. Was that really what Greymon thought of her? She'd always assumed that they got on well, even if they weren't particularly close. And ever since this situation began, she'd thought that things had been going well, if a little slowly. Now she found out that she had been doing nothing but getting on Greymon's nerves.

That hurt her. Deeply.

Because now she was questioning what everybody else in the Fusion Fighters United Army thought about her. What did King Shoutmon and his close friends think of her? What did the other members of team Blue Flare think of her? What did Knightmon and the other members of her Royal Guard think of her? Did they think along similar lines? Did they think that she was just a spoiled Princess who always got her way?

And was she?

Was she really that pampered and selfish? Greymon was right, she hadn't really realized what she was doing, but now that she said it she could see quite clearly that he was right. She had been doing, ordering them around like servants, even if she had been doing it in a friendly manner. But Sorcermon did offer her to trained her to be able to defend herself and be able to fight alongside with her friends.

The silence stretched awkwardly on as they waited for Deputymon's return. And Beastmon had never felt more miserable in her life.

Eventually, Sorcermon broke the silence and said. "Deputymon has gone too long you guys. We need to go and look for him if he is alright."

Greymon nodded to the White Wizard Digimon and he turned to the Princess. "Your right Sorcermon he never took too long. Okay Princess, you and Sorcermon can both climb on aboard and I'll attempt to follow his scent."

Beastmon mumbled an incorrect reply as she pulled herself away from the tree. Still sobbing quietly to herself, far less nimbly than before, until she was sitting astride his shoulders, trying to stop herself from crying and falling asleep was one of the last things on her mind right now. Sorcermon climb on and sitting behind Beastmon as he hold on to her shoulders.

Wordlessly, the three of them made their way off in the direction that Deputymon had taken.

XXX

**Deputymon gets captured by the Rangers of Ithilien and Sorcermon, Greymon and Beastmon are now looking for Deputymon.**

**I also added Benethor's name who is one of the characters in the Third Age and Mablung is one of Faramir's top Rangers. Last is Madril who is Faramir's second in command that is at Osgiliath with less than a few hundred Rangers in defense with Benethor.** **And there was a faction from Khand, the army that did appear in the book but not in the movie.**

**Next Chapter is with Frodo and Sam in Emyn Muil to try and reach into Mordor. They were being followed by Gollum and the three red Monitamons that are Digimon are following them too.**

**Next time Chapter 15 Taming of Gollum **


End file.
